Riding for a Cure: One Woman’s Story of How She Supports ZERO’s Mission July 14, 2021 My husband and I live in north Texas, where we enjoy bicycling almost year round. He’s never had prostate cancer and we’ve never lost anyone to the disease. So, what am I doing here on ZERO’s blog?I’m glad you asked!It all started when we were out cycling with a friend. He showed me the “Charity Miles” app on his phone. “It’s free,” he explained. “You just pick a charity, select the activity you’re doing, and go. The app tracks your mileage, and corporate sponsors donate ten cents a mile to your charity.”As a writer, I love stories. This idea of combining fitness with charity with publicly thanking generous businesses sounded like a great story. I was all in.For a while, I switched between different charities—you know, to spread my massive (three bucks a week?) support around. The app showed the current total amount raised for each charity, so I started looking for “underdogs” – organizations that were new, or less well known, or otherwise under-supported.One day a new charity appeared: ZERO. Huh? Oh, I see—The End of Prostate Cancer. No support so far. Plus, a few of my friends had fought this cancer. They’d been successfully treated, but I knew the disease was sneaky. And dangerous. Guys need screenings. I could get on board with this! I selected the ZERO icon and logged my first ride in support. “Today’s ride is for the guys,” I posted on Facebook.That was in April of last year, and I haven’t changed charities since then. So far, I’ve logged over 4000 miles. With no extra effort on my part, that’s generated $400 for the fight against prostate cancer. Mostly cycling, but it all counts: running, hiking, neighborhood walks…I’ve benefitted, too. Once I showed up to ride a 40-mile bike rally and discovered I’d forgotten my bike computer. I had no speed or cadence readings, but I could check my distance on Charity Miles to at least gauge how far to the next rest stop! Also, one of the sponsors makes a really great hummus that I might not have known about otherwise.If you’re in the ZERO community and pursue any kind of distance exercise, I hope you’ll consider letting Charity Miles take those workouts that you’re gonna do anyway, and make them even more powerful. To read more of Jan’s work, visit her blog here.Charity Miles is a free app you can download in the Apple and Android app stores. You can log all types of movement, from running and walking to dancing and biking. Every mile you move helps earn money for your charity from Charity Miles’ corporate sponsorship pool. You can also get sponsored by your friends! As of May 2021, $5,172 has been donated to ZERO on behalf of Charity Miles athletes. Thank you for your continued support! Click here to begin fundraising for ZERO through the Charity Miles app. Advocacy Blog Posts Spreading Awareness More for you
My husband and I live in north Texas, where we enjoy bicycling almost year round. He’s never had prostate cancer and we’ve never lost anyone to the disease. So, what am I doing here on ZERO’s blog?I’m glad you asked!It all started when we were out cycling with a friend. He showed me the “Charity Miles” app on his phone. “It’s free,” he explained. “You just pick a charity, select the activity you’re doing, and go. The app tracks your mileage, and corporate sponsors donate ten cents a mile to your charity.”As a writer, I love stories. This idea of combining fitness with charity with publicly thanking generous businesses sounded like a great story. I was all in.For a while, I switched between different charities—you know, to spread my massive (three bucks a week?) support around. The app showed the current total amount raised for each charity, so I started looking for “underdogs” – organizations that were new, or less well known, or otherwise under-supported.One day a new charity appeared: ZERO. Huh? Oh, I see—The End of Prostate Cancer. No support so far. Plus, a few of my friends had fought this cancer. They’d been successfully treated, but I knew the disease was sneaky. And dangerous. Guys need screenings. I could get on board with this! I selected the ZERO icon and logged my first ride in support. “Today’s ride is for the guys,” I posted on Facebook.That was in April of last year, and I haven’t changed charities since then. So far, I’ve logged over 4000 miles. With no extra effort on my part, that’s generated $400 for the fight against prostate cancer. Mostly cycling, but it all counts: running, hiking, neighborhood walks…I’ve benefitted, too. Once I showed up to ride a 40-mile bike rally and discovered I’d forgotten my bike computer. I had no speed or cadence readings, but I could check my distance on Charity Miles to at least gauge how far to the next rest stop! Also, one of the sponsors makes a really great hummus that I might not have known about otherwise.If you’re in the ZERO community and pursue any kind of distance exercise, I hope you’ll consider letting Charity Miles take those workouts that you’re gonna do anyway, and make them even more powerful. To read more of Jan’s work, visit her blog here.Charity Miles is a free app you can download in the Apple and Android app stores. You can log all types of movement, from running and walking to dancing and biking. Every mile you move helps earn money for your charity from Charity Miles’ corporate sponsorship pool. You can also get sponsored by your friends! As of May 2021, $5,172 has been donated to ZERO on behalf of Charity Miles athletes. Thank you for your continued support! Click here to begin fundraising for ZERO through the Charity Miles app.
