On your mark. Get set. Go!
Bicyclists – and walkers – get ready to give new meaning to the term “pro-life movement” at the inaugural Biking for Babies fundraiser ride in Shippensburg on Saturday, April 26.
An event of the national Biking for Babies campaign that raises funds and awareness for pregnancy resource centers through several-hundred miles of rides every summer, the local ride gives cyclists and walkers an opportunity to join in the mission on a smaller yet still crucial scale as it raises funds for the Carlisle Area Family Life Center and Pregnancy Ministries, Inc., located in Shippensburg, Chambersburg and Waynesboro.
The local event on April 26 will begin with Mass at Our Lady of the Visitation Church in Shippensburg, celebrated by Father Benjamin Dunkelberger, pastor, at 7:30 a.m. After Mass, riders and walkers will be inspired by brief remarks from representatives from Biking for Babies and the two pregnancy resources centers before heading out onto the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail.
Various options are available for riders and walkers, including a two-mile walk and 10-mile and 25-mile rides, all starting and ending adjacent to the church. Walkers are permitted to bring strollers and wagons for the kids, as the trail is wide enough to accommodate. The route includes trailheads with rest areas and restrooms.
The Diocese of Harrisburg is supporting this inaugural event through the Secretariat for Catholic Life and Evangelization. Marianne Weltmer, Director for Life and Dignity, and Zachary Haney, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, recently sat down with Rachel Troche of the Candid Catholic Convos podcast to drum up excitement for the event that combines cycling and pro-life evangelization.
“Biking for Babies started in 2009 with two college students from the University of Illinois reflecting on St. John Paul II’s message at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993: ‘Woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life.’ Over their spring break, they decided to do a ride across Illinois, stopping at multiple sites in a 600 mile ride, and in the process were raising money for their local pregnancy resource center as well as their pro-life group on campus. They raised over $14,000,” Weltmer explained.
“They felt motivated and called to share that experience with as many people as possible, so Biking for Babies began,” she said.
“They’re going out and preaching to all the nations as Christ told us, except they’re doing it on a bike,” Haney added.
Funds raised from the April 26 ride will support moms, babies and families served by the Carlisle Area Family Life Center and Pregnancy Ministries, Inc., with a portion benefiting Biking for Babies. Registration is $30 for riders and free for those participating in the two-mile walk; riders and walkers are also encouraged to seek donations from sponsors. And, if you can’t participate in-person, you can sponsor a participant or make a general donation to the cause. Information on the event, online registration and ways to donate can be found at this link.
“With the money we collect, we will help those in need, and who knows – we might even turn some heads along the way,” Haney said. “The trail is a public space, so we might encounter people and help spread the pro-life message and what it is that we’re doing.”
“The Church has always taught about the dignity and sanctify of human life from conception to natural death. We’re called to support it, protect it, do what we can do to raise awareness,” Weltmer said. “I think visible events like Biking for Babies help draw awareness not just to the teachings of the Catholic Church but to a greater Christian community that values and respects human life.”
Haney said the event is one way of using talents and hobbies to spread the pro-life message and put it into action by supporting mothers and babies.
“There is no gift or talent that can’t be used for the pro-life cause and the furtherment of God’s kingdom. Get creative! What’s something you’re good at or passionate about? There is a way to use it in order to help people,” he said.
“Biking for Babies is a powerful example because it is ‘a going out.’ As Catholics, we are called to go out. We’re not called to just donate from our phone or wait for people to come to us. We are to go to the nations. It’s about taking what you have and going out to make that difference for others,” he said.
Learn more about Biking for Babies and find full details and registration for the April 26 ride at www.hbgdiocese.org/event/biking-for-babies/.
See the YouTube interview with Marianne Weltmer and Zachary Haney for the Candid Catholic Convos podcast at this link.
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
