HUNTSVILLE, Ala (WHNT) — We all know the saying, you can do anything you set your mind to, and for a group of high school students out of Wisconsin, they are certainly living proof of that phrase.
“Biking all these miles in the heat with that elevation… they’re complaining, but they love it,” said Kate Vestlie.
10 students are choosing to spend their summer biking from Madison, Wisconsin all the way to Montgomery, Alabama, with one value in mind: unity.
“For me, I’m just trying to spread more like awareness of what race amity is and try to convince people to go out of their way and make an effort to do something about it,” said Olive Maggiore.
The group is called “Riders for Race Amity,” and Maggiore is one of those bikers.
The idea started when Kate Vestlie, the group leader, and a friend visited the Equal Justice Initiative Museums in Montgomery.
She said they were life-changing and knew they had to come back. She said they also knew they wanted to do it in a unique way.
“That friend is also a biker,” said Vestlie. “We were going to bike down together, but once my son heard about it, his friend, his cousin, his best friend, then all these youth started to come up.”
That sparked the group trip.
Now that they are making their way through the Rocky City, they want to take their efforts a step further. That’s why they decided to volunteer at Manna House.
“Service is a very essential component to building community and building relationships, and it builds trust when we allow ourselves to be served,” said Vestlie.
She said they wanted to plan the trip around the Juneteenth holiday. She said they are currently 75% of the way done with their trip and plan to spend the last four days at the Equal Justice Initiative Museums.
The post High School students ride over 900 miles to honor racial unity appeared first on WHNT.
