A former Yorkton resident is in training to undertake the ride of a lifetime which will help kids in the process.
Shannon Kuspira now lives in Blackpool, England and she's training for a Tower to Tower ride, cycling from Blackpool Tower to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, in order to raise money for Brian House, a children's hospice in Blackpool.
Kuspira says the goal was to create a big challenge for the year as a way to give back to the community. Right now, she is at Crystal Lake (near Yorkton) training. She says the bike she is using is rented from Hometown Source for Sports and that it has been a major help in getting her ready for the big trip. She admits that it's going to be a challenge no matter how much training she does.
"I don't know if anything can prepare you for it, the consecutive days will be difficult."
Her goal is to raise 20,000 for the refurbishment of rooms at the hospice, as well as a planned sensory hallway in the hospital. She says that since she has seen how a seriously ill child can affect an entire community, supporting the charity was something that made sense. She also notes that Brian House is entirely funded through donations.
"It's really for high dependency kids and kids with terminal illness, they use it for respite for a lot of families as well."
As she trains in the area, she says she's working to get increasingly far each time, and she will reach Yorkton on her final day of training. She says that she's always known the value of giving back to the community and what it can mean in the lives of the people around her.
"I came from a small town, and it's a small town where we live as well, so it's just nice to give something back."
To help Kuspira with her goal visit: www.justgiving.com/t2t2014blackpooltoparis/ or donate at K.W. Menswear.
