College student participates in a 4,000-mile bike ride to raise hope for the disabled

Tony Higgins of Moore is cycling across the country as part of the Journey of Hope to raise money and awareness for organizations that serve the disabled.

Photo provided

Published: Sunday, July 28, 2013 at 9:37 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, July 28, 2013 at 9:37 p.m.

While other recent college graduates are interning, starting new jobs or enjoying a vacation, Tony Higgins had a different idea for how to spend his summer.

Higgins is part of a group raising money and awareness for people with disabilities through a 4,000-mile bicycle ride across America.

The Moore native graduated from Winthrop University in Rock Hill earlier this summer. He's one of two South Carolina students who will be among the 22 cyclists when the Journey of Hope stops in Spartanburg on Thursday. The other is Coastal Carolina student Luke Maslow.

The Journey of Hope is a program of Push America, the national philanthropic arm of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

This year's trek will raise more than $500,000 on behalf of people with disabilities, officials with Push America said.

Higgins, who graduated from Oakbrook Preparatory School and began his collegiate career at Spartanburg Methodist College, said he was excited to be coming home as part of the trek.

"I'm really excited," he said during a call from Birmingham, Ala. "I hope to see friends and family."

The cyclists, who are averaging 75 miles a day during the ride, will visit the Charles Lea Center at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Afterward, the team will have dinner and then play baseball at 6:30 p.m. with members of the Carolina Miracle League, a charitable organization that provides children with mental and physical challenges a chance to play baseball.

Higgins is part of Journey of Hope South, which began its trek in Long Beach, Calif., on June 12. Two other routes will meet up with the southern contingent on Aug. 10 in Washington, officials said.

On the way, Higgins said he's ridden through Death Valley, over the Continental Divide and up 9,000 feet to the top of Salt River Canyon in Arizona.

"Looking down on the river and seeing this huge canyon we just climbed out of, it was awesome," Higgins said. "I just felt so small."

But the most rewarding part of the trip hasn't been the sightseeing. Higgins said that comes when the group visits local organizations working with the disabled and spending the night with host families.

He fondly recalled a trouncing the cyclists received at the hands of a wheelchair basketball team in Dallas and said that, despite the 48-2 loss, he had fun.

With a degree in sports management and plans to start classes at West Virginia University just six days after completing the trek, Higgins said he ultimately hopes to work in collegiate athletics and help spread adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball to more areas.

Higgins has raised more than $5,000 through donations from family and friends. He said no Winthrop student had ever finished the Journey of Hope. That fact and the program's mission drew him to participate. He trained for more than a year and a half for the trek.

"It was kind of the right time in my life," he said. "I've seen the passion, I've heard the stories. It's something I've wanted to do."

For more information on Push America and the Journey of Hope, or to donate, visit www.pushamerica.org.

Source: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20130728/articles/130729711

blunt amendment justin bieber birthday read across america vikings stadium breitbart dead db cooper fafsa