Dear friends,

This year I am participating in the 2016 Ride-the-Rockies bicycle ride as a member of Team Samaritan House to raise funds to support for the Catholic Charities homeless shelters.  Team Samaritan House consists of 33 riders who have each committed to raise a minimum of $1,500 each.  I am asking you for donations to support my effort to meet and, preferably, exceed this amount.

The homeless are among us every day and it is simply too easy to ignore or wish away this growing problem in our communities.  I taught in Denver Public Schools for 8 years and can testify to the impact that homelessness and hunger have on children.  Recently I met Tom Schwein and Tom Dea, our team co-captains, and they recruited me to use the Ride the Rockies as a vehicle to support the Catholic Charities homeless mission.

All funds raised benefit the Catholic Charities’ five homeless shelters, including Samaritan House in Denver.  These shelters provide overnight stay and long-term residence with intensive case management.  The ultimate goal of all Catholic Charities’ shelters is to help residents become self-reliant by providing needed individualized assistance.    I like this approach because it provides a commitment, not just a feeding station, to assist people out of the homeless trap.

Catholic Charities makes every dollar count; each meal at Samaritan house costs about $1.60, meaning a $100 donation buys 62 meals!  Last year Catholic Charities’ shelters provided nearly 1.2 million nights of shelter and approximately 457,000 meals.  

The 2016 Ride the Rockies will be an incredible six-day cycling trip through the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains.  This year’s route is one of the best ever.  It begins on June 11th in Carbondale and finishes on June 17th in Fort Collins covering 403 miles and 29,000 plus feet of elevation change.   I am looking forward to the physical challenges provided by the training, the ride itself, and by the challenge of raising money to support this very effective Catholic Charities mission.

Please help me meet my goal with a donation.  You can donate on this webpage!  I will keep you posted on my progress over the next weeks as I prepare for this year’s Ride the Rockies.  Thank you. 

Sincerely,

Wayne Meeusen