MIAMI (WSVN) - Dozens of riders are getting ready to hop on their bicycles to participate in the Best Buddies Challenge.
Cyclists will hit the pavement for the Best Buddies Challenge, which will kick off on Friday with a 62-mile ride across the Magic City.
“Hope to raise about $2.8 million to support people with intellectual and development disabilities all over South Florida and the whole state,” said Best Buddies CEO Anthony Shriver.
The nonprofit provides friendships, mentors and jobs for people with disabilities like McKenzie Camacho. “They help me to be independent,” she said.
The program partnered with Mack Cycle in South Miami to provide Camacho with employment and much more. “They’re like a family to me,” she said. “This is another opportunity. I just love this job.”
“We get the best of both worlds,” said Rachel Losada with Mack Cycle. “We’re in a fun business. We get to do great things in the community, and that comes back to support us as well.”
Best Buddies said they are only able to change lives with the help of partnerships and sponsors like entrepreneur Ralph Winter, who donated $1 million to the job program.
“It’s a great organization. Everything that you really do comes into the right position and is given to the right people,” Winter said.
It’s why Best Buddies is hoping even more people will get involved and ride for the cause. “It’ll make you feel like a million bucks. You feel like you count and you matter and that you really can make a difference,” Shriver said. “You can transform another human being’s life, and I think all of us want to feel like we’re doing something bigger than ourselves.”
The Best Buddies Challenge bike ride will begin Friday, at 7 a.m. from Marlins Park, followed by a gala that evening.
For more information on the challenge, go to https://www.bestbuddieschallenge.org.
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