Coast-to-Coast Bike Ride, Inspired by Boy with CF, Raising Money for Claire’s Place Foundation – Cystic Fibrosis News Today

A first-graderwith cystic fibrosis (CF), Conor Fink, inspired a close family friend to hop on his bicycle and spend his summerpedaling from the West to East Coast Oregon to New York toraise money for Claires Place Foundation, a nonprofit helping children and families affectedby the disease.

Douglas Forsyths3400-mile bike journey, which started on July 9 in Portland, has its own Go Fund Me Page and its own Facebook page, which includesa complete trip routeand displays daily updates from spots whereForsyth takes a stop.

According to the latest update, posted today, Forsyth and a friend accompanying him on the trek Doug Sawyer are hoping to arrive in Idaho on Friday. Their goal is to make it toBattery Park, at the southern edge ofNew York City, on or about Aug. 5.

Forsyth was inspired to take on this fund-raising challenge by the young Fink, whose father Forsyth calls his best friend. CF, a genetic disorder, requires countless medications on a daily basis and forces patients to endure numerous treatments. He wanted to help Conor and his family.

He chose Claires Place Foundation to receive money raised because the nonprofit provides financial and other supportdirectlytopeopleliving with CF, like grants given to help with medicines and hospital bills. The foundationwas started by Claire Wineland, now 19, who has been living with CFsince birth, with the goal of aiding CF families and educating the public.

Our most recent grant was made possible in partby the fundraising Douglas Forsyth is doing, Melissa Yeager, Claires Place Foundations executive director, said in a press release. The grant was given to an11 year old boyliving with cystic fibrosis who has been hospitalized four times in quick succession and the familywas facing extreme financial difficulties as well as a move to a new city.

Without friends and supporters like Douglas we would not be able to take the huge financial burden off the shoulders of families affected by cystic fibrosis. Thank you Douglas and everyone who is helping withCycling America for CF. Your efforts are making a real difference in this familys life and more! Yeager added.

Forsyth and Sawyer plan to ride without support throughout the trip, pulling a bike trailer with necessary gear to sleep outdoors most nights. Forsythhopes to bike an average of 125 miles per day, completing the 3,400 total in about 27 days.

In the four months since the fund-raiser began, 41 people have helped Forsyth reach $4,705 of his $5,000 goal. Anyone wish to make a donation can do so through his gofundme.com page.

Claire is a author of a bestsellingbook,Every Breath I Take, Surviving and Thriving with Cystic Fibrosis, and a frequent speaker and advocate on behalf of people with cystic fibrosis.

Read the original:

Coast-to-Coast Bike Ride, Inspired by Boy with CF, Raising Money for Claire's Place Foundation - Cystic Fibrosis News Today