(Summer 2019) Two Stony Brook student leaders are devoting their whole summer to cycling more than 4,000 miles across the country to raise awareness and funds for their respective charities.
Justas Klimavicius and Zachary Shaps prepare for their bike trip.
Justas Klimavicius ’19, President of Undergraduate Student Government (USG), will be biking across the country with The Ability Experience, a philanthropic initiative of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity that focuses on empowering people with disabilities.
For the past 30 years, members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity have sponsored an event called Journey of Hope in which students bike across the United States to raise awareness of disabilities. The cross-country journey is intended to fulfill the vision of The Ability Experience, which seeks to create a community where “abilities of all people are recognized and valued.”
Meanwhile, Zachary Shaps, USG Senator, will also be cycling across the country for 70 days this summer for a cause dear to his heart. His 4,000-mile journey from Baltimore to Seattle is intended to to raise awareness for the Ulman Foundation.
Shaps’s journey is sponsored by 4K for Cancer. The Foundation has raised over $7 million for the fight against cancer since its inception in 2001, and this number continues to rise with the participation of students such as Shaps.