Hello... we start soon. Keep posted with my blog and the journal posted on the B&B website as well. If you want to send me mail/love/food/moral support, here's how.
Bike & Build groups will receive mail approximately once a week while on the road, and welcome letters and packages from friends, family, and supporters. Mail will be delivered through USPS General Delivery. Please be sure to send mail in ample time to arrive prior to the pick-up date and only through the United States Postal Service (The Post Office will not accept mail from any other carrier). Address mail to:
Bike & Build Attn: Sharif Morad General Delivery STREET ADDRESS (if noted) CITY, ST ZIP
Please mark the envelope or package with "Please hold for pick-up on DATE." Late mail will be forwarded to the mail drop two weeks ahead. Late mail from the last two mail drops will be returned to sender.
Everyone who graduated is at Myrtle Beach for beach week now, but I have skirted off to VA Beach to start getting riding for Bike & Build Central US. Let the prepping begin...
This summer, I decided to make a 2nd cross country cycling trip and address affordable housing with the non-profit Bike & Build.
Why would I do this again? Why would any sane person want to do this the first time? (Okay, I probably can't answer that question, but I can tell you why I think Bike & Build is one of the most powerful experiences on this planet).
Think of things that make you happy in your life - probably some of your fondest memories are shared with others. The ones you love, the ones you depend on , the ones that enrich your life. Does it make you happy when other people help you? Do you believe in karma? How does it feel when someone gives you a gift? How about when you give them one? How about both those feelings? How about all these feelings?
We move too quickly in America - anyone can agree with me on this. This is why we have slow food movements, and also why we have fast food restaurants. Unfortunately, in moving too fast and too quickly, life tends to pass us by, instead of us passing through life. But have you ever taken a moment to "live"? Maybe going across the country slowly on a BICYCLE will make you take a second... maybe being forced to live communally with 30 people for 2 months give you a little perspective - that you and your head do not exist in a bubble... and maybe dedicating yourself to something bigger than yourself, and giving the most personal gift of all - a home - can really transform and inspire you to listen to your inner voice, and evaluate for yourself what is really important in life.
The people - the presence of others, the relationships you build, the people you meet - that's the only thing we have in this world that matters. Have you noticed how much stuff we buy to make ourselves happy? A person is free and always has something new to offer.
The biking - it's beautiful to see this country. We often forget what a privilege we have to live in such a diverse land and feel the need to vacation to far away places to find something exciting - look in your backyard.
The service - it is truly a gift and a privilege to be able to serve others. Why? If you're asking this question, then I encourage you to try it out for yourself and discover the answer. To quote Emerson, "To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success."
As the days count down, I and the other 3 leaders are calling places to stay along the way, organizing our build days, finding food donations, making cue sheets (directions), fundraising, biking, building, and feeling uncontrollable enthusiasm for the road ahead. Canon Beach, here we come...
Happy New Year! As you may or may not know, this summer I'm participating in another cross country cycling trip with Bike & Build - and this time as a leader.
Last summer, Bike & Build was one of the most purposeful and meaningful summers I had, and it was made possible thru all the generous donors who helped in alleviating the affordable housing crisis in America.
Bike & Build was an inspiring experience to me and all of the people we touched along our trip. The challenge of each ride combined with the community building my group contributed made waking up every morning just as exciting as the first, and each day richer than the last. Serving others was a privilege and a gift, and I saw firsthand what a group of dedicated and spirited young adults can do. My group fundraised a little over $139,000 last year for affordable housing and built houses all across America (see the attached pictures!).
As a graduating electrical engineering senior of the University of Virginia in just five short months, I have one last free summer before heading off to my first job at Accenture in the fall. I want to use this time to inspire another group of young adults to feel as passionately as I do about making a difference.
I will be leading a cross-country cycling trip with Bike & Build on May 19th for two months, from Virginia Beach, VA to Canon Beach, OR. During the trip, we stop an average of once a week and dedicate a full day to helping a local housing project. With thirty riders on the Central US route alone, plus the other seven routes that Bike & Build runs across the country, there will be nearly 250 volunteers hammering nails, painting walls, and pedaling for the cause this summer.
As I mentioned, each trip has around thirty 18-25 year old young adults, including 4 leaders. I am part of that leadership team, helping plan where we stay, which housing projects to work on, planning meals and the daily rides, as well as keeping the group on track with pre-trip fundraising and training.
In order to participate, I need to raise $4000, but my goal for this trip is to raise $5000 because I know firsthand that the effects this organization has on the communities we pass through is profound.A portion of this money will fund the trip, but Bike & Build (a nonprofit organization) allocates a majority of the money to affordable housing organizations. In my case, part of the money will benefit the Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity. The remainder will be pooled by Bike & Build to make contributions to the affordable housing groups in the communities that we stop in, and for a competitive grant program.
You money will benefit affordable housing in America. Affordable housing is not just an issue, it is a national crisis, and my summer allowed me to see how it spreads to all parts of America and does not disappear.
With your help I can reach and a possibly surpass my goal. You can learn more information from the website www.bikeandbuild.org or feel truly free to ask me. If you can help (between now and April), I hope you will.
Tax deductible donations are accepted:
online (preferred and easiest), by visiting the Bike & Build website (www.bikeandbuild.org/donate) and by choosing my name (Sharif Morad) from the drop down menu.
Brendan & Kristian’s Bike & Build Gear Guide “We work here and we’ve done it too.”
by mailing a check with my name on it to Bike and Build at
Bike & Build, Inc
6109 Ridge Ave Bldg 2
PhiladelphiaPA19128
If you work for a company that has a matching gifts program, Bike and Build is eligible.
In the meantime, as part of my commitment to Bike & Build, I’ll be working this spring preparing for the trip, learning about affordable housing, training, and of course- helping to build homes. Many thanks for your support, and don’t forget to tell anyone else who you think might want to donate too!
Sincerely yours,
Sharif
Photo’s From This Past Summer (North Carolina to San Diego 2009)
My trip framing and raising a wall with Habitat for Humanity in Chapel Hill, NC
A group of us built this ramp in one day to make the home wheelchair accessible in Ashville, NC
Laying the foundation for a house in Colorado Springs, CO. The house was completed a week later by another Bike & Build trip that came through and did a week long blitz build.
Okay, so not actually good-bye. I don't know who I'm trying to kid, but I keep coming back and checking my OWN blog - weeks after this trip ended - expecting something new to be here. This trip is over, though. It was cathartic, life changing, eye opening - whatever you want to call it; experiences like this are nearly too difficult to put to words if you haven't had the experience yourself. Verbalizing it almost cheapens the emotion.
Taking risks, finding the adventure, and living with a greater purpose, however, are things I'm not ready to be over with and I am going to apply to lead a trip next summer. This organization is fantastic and there is no a single reason not to be involved with B&B. Okay maybe there are a couple: the real world, and a job, and money, and all that "grown-up" stuff. And that's important, but that isn't where I've settled in my chapter of life yet. This is the real deal people, I'm obsessed. Make voyages. Attempt them. There's nothing else.
