Cyclists to ride Yonge St. as fund-raiser

By Ken Johnston
Editor

A three person team will be using Rainy River as a starting point for a fund-raising effort beginning this Wednesday.
“Always Yonge - A ride for Right to Play” will begin a 12 day, 1,896 km, bicycle trip from Rainy River to Toronto tomorrow. The team hopes to raise $25,000 for the charity Right to Play. Right To Play is a global organization that uses the transformative power of play to educate and empower children facing adversity. Through playing sports and games, Right To Play helps one million children weekly in more than 20 countries to build essential life skills and better futures, while driving lasting social change.
“We invite supporters to donate today through our website www.alwaysyonge.com. All donations go directly to Right To Play.” said Lynn Moffatt event coordinator.
Always Yonge has also been paired up with KRG Children’s Charitable Foundation, who has contributed to the ride financially. KRG is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for many other children’s charities.
“This is the first year for Always Yonge and we plan to continue to evolve and grow our events in years to come. We will continue to raise funds during and after our ride and appreciate all contributions that help us get closer to our goal of $25,000,” added Moffatt.
After their Send-Off Party last Thursday night they have raised over $12,000. Anyone wishing to contribute towards their goal can do so on the internet.
The three member team is comprised of Ryan Malfara, an extreme athlete and Lynn Moffatt and Tanya Casole-Gouveai. Malfara has committed to riding every kilometer of the trip and the other two will take turns driving the support vehicle and riding along with Malfara.
“Kids learn by what they see. I want them to know they can achieve anything, and inspire them through my own actions,” said Malfara last week.
Malfara has completed gruelling bike challenges, scaled the stairs of Mount Everest and won the world’s longest race. He has also helped fund-raise several hundred thousand dollars for various charities including Chimborazo Children’s Fund, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, GoodLife Kids Foundation and now Right to Play.
Moffatt and Casole-Gouveai are both U. of Waterloo graduates from the faculty of Applied Health Science. They both studied the important role play has in the healthy development of children, communities and society.
Always Yonge is planning to kick things off this Wednesday morning around 9:30 a.m. at the old train station where there is a Yonge St. sign. They hope that members of the community and the local school will come out to send them off!
They plan to visit many communities along the way and are planning to camp their way east. They hope to average about 158 km a day.