Although it rained buckets, and the lightening shut down the Freedom Financial Services Freedom from Poverty Community Celebration, it was still considered a success.  More people in our community may be aware of a friend, a neighbor, or a co-worker who is struggling with poverty.  Our community came together as one, on an overcast day in America the Beautiful park, to celebrate the arrival of the national Cycling for Change team, which included our CEO Jason Christensen, on their journey across America, to bring awareness to the issue of poverty in America.  We didn’t get to great them at the park due to the storm, but we got to say hello later at the Marian House, where we all gathered after a long, wet, and windy day in the park.  We want to thank Roy Clennan and Freedom Financial Services for being our title sponsor.  His faith in us has been amazing.

The metric century bike ride got off in the morning, made it through the St. Francis Medical Center and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church AID stations,  had a great lunch stop in Monument, thanks to St. Peter’s Catholic Church and La Casa Fiesta restaurant, and most of the riders made it back to town before the sky opened up.  Those who didn’t, were rescued on the course.  Thank you to Phil Long Dealerships for the use of their cargo vans, to First Lutheran Church for the use of their 15 passenger van, and all the ride support vehicles – CS West, Bike Pro Mobile- and all the other volunteer support vehicles who converged where needed to pick up riders.

The Bike Rodeo had lots of children come and take part in the safety courses.  Thank you to all who participated in this event, particularly the Academy Optimist Club, Metro Rides, Kids on Bikes, Chick-fil-A, and Memorial Hospital.  We could not have done it without you. The smiles on the kids faces who received new and used bikes was worth all the hard work.  The rain seemed only to add to their enjoyment!

The Freedom from Poverty Community Celebration was just getting started.  The band equipment was in place, and the Silent Voices Mime Team had just began to perform when the rain started.  Everyone was holding out hope that the storm would just pass over.  We had participation from local social service agencies, food and beverage vendors – Ranch Foods Direct, J&S Concessions, The Good Stuff, Pepsi  Bottling Company, and Bristol Brewing Company, PPLD, Chick-fil-A, and the USOC in the KIDZONE, and the crowd was just beginning to gather to settle in for the free concert in the park and the arrival of the riders when the lightening began.  Then it rained buckets!  The music equipment got soaked as did all the performers.  The crowd scrambled to secure tents, tables, etc., and made a run for the shelter of the pavilion.

The volunteers, staff, partners, donors, and attendees were great, even through the storm.  We stayed to clean up the park, stacked the barriers which were donated by Midwest Barriers and put everything back in place, and wouldn’t you know it, once everything was cleaned up, the sun decided to shine down upon us.  Even though we were all wet and tired, we gathered at the Marian House for pizza, Bristol Beer, and listened as Shawn Mullins gave us a private concert.  He and his manager Kip Conner, even though tired and wet, came to the Marian House to spend several hours with us, and Shawn played the music that everyone loves.

When one door closes, another one opens.  It wasn’t the event we planned, but it turned out to be a great event anyway.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the planning and execution of this event.  We could not serve the people in our community who need help the most, without your support.  Thank You!