Several MIT students will put their pedaling power to the test when they take part in the second Boston to New York AIDS Ride starting September 5.
Pledges collected by Boston-based riders benefit the Fenway Community Health Center, which provides health care to New England gays and lesbians and residents of the Fenway, regardless of their ability to pay. It is the largest community-based provider of HIV/AIDS medical and mental health services in Massachusetts. It also provides HIV testing, research and prevention programs. The event also benefits similar programs in New York.
Each rider is required to gather at least $1,500 in pledges by August 1, explained Lorraine Cable, who will be a senior in film and media studies this fall. She originally signed on as a volunteer because she rides only a few minutes each day to and from MIT and the idea of biking the 300 miles to New York in four days "sort of scared me," she said. But she went to an organizational kickoff party, "and that's where I found out that not all the riders are avid bikers." She later met up with Anthony Garcia, who will be a junior in economics, and the two decided to ride together.
The AIDS ride also needs volunteers for rider support, organization and outreach. For more information or to make a pledge, contact Ms. Cable at 267-6028, , or the event office in Boston at 859-8282.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on July 24, 1996.
