I'm new to this blogging stuff, but I thought that it would be a good way to get the word out about my cross country trip and fund raising for Trips for Kids this summer. It is my goal to raise $10,000 for Trips for Kids, an organization that was started in the late 1980s just outside San Francisco, CA. This is a quote taken from the Trips for Kids national webpage (www.tripsforkids.org/national/):

"Trips For Kids National provides the materials, moral support and inspiration that an individual or group needs to help disadvantaged kids discover the joy of mountain biking. Operating in the United States and Canada, we open the world of cycling to at risk youth through mountain bike rides and Earn-A-Bike programs. The more than forty Trips For Kids chapters that we support combine lessons in personal responsibility, achievement and environmental awareness through the development of practical skills and the simple act of having fun."

After learning about Trips for Kids, I got in touch with the founder of the program, Marilyn Price. In March, I am planning to visit the Trips for Kids headquarters in San Rafael, CA for a week, to see how the operation works and go on some rides with local kids. Marilyn has also told me that it will be possible for me to earmark some of the funds I raise to be set aside for starting my own chapter of Trips for Kids in the Pittsfield/Lenox area. I have been in communication with Ken Gonsalves of the Arcadian Shop in Lenox, Massachusetts who has expressed interest in helping me start a local chapter of Trips for Kids in the area in cooperation with the Arcadian Shop. In the next several weeks I will be working on setting up a donation website with various donation levels and rewards! If you would like to donate now by mail, please send cash/check(payable to Cameron Russell and Trips for Kids) to :

Cameron Russell
110 Darrow Road
New Lebanon, NY 12125

Thanks so much for reading, and please contact me with any questions!!!
-Cameron