Katie Ride for Life
Submitted by Sean McGill
Event Director
April 30, 2019 11:00 a.m.
On behalf of the 15th Annual Katie Ride for Life, I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the event. Our over 500 participants and volunteers raised over $100,000! These funds will be used to support organ donation and awareness programs.
Events like this do not happen over night or without a lot of support. I would especially like to thank Mary Hamburg and the rest of the amazing City of Fernandina Beach staff. They made putting this complicated event together easy. The City police and fire departments, as well as Nassau County fire and sheriff, and JSO kept all our participants safe and ensured a fun event. Tom Tice is to be commended in helping with the emergency preparedness and planning for incidents that fortunately did not occur.
There were several hundred volunteers that made this event possible. Most were from our area high schools as well as St. Michaels Academy. These students were amazing. They worked for many hours with a smile on their face and greatly contributed to the positive experience of our participants. Our aid station volunteers kept our riders, runners, walkers, and triathletes hydrated and well fueled. Thank you to Synovus Bank, Brian Henning and his team at Edward Jones, the Residence Inn, Super Corsa Bike Shop, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Mayo Clinic for being our water stop support. We also must point out the amazing support of all the bike shops in the entire Jacksonville area that support this ride. Please support your local bike shop the way they support this event.
Events such as these are expensive to produce. Our sponsors generously helped make this happen and allowed us to put as much as possible back into our educational programs. There is not enough room to name every one of our generous sponsors, you only must look at the back of our t-shirt but know that we appreciate everyone. We are deeply appreciative of our continued partnership with Mayo Clinic as our presenting sponsor. They also brought an amazing team of participants and volunteers. Baptist Medical Center Nassau was a great partner in being the title sponsor of our fun triathlon.
Finally, I would like to thank the residents of Amelia Island. We know that all the cyclists on the road during the morning can be a minor inconvenience. We appreciate your understanding and allowing us to hold an event that generates both awareness and needed funds to continue our mission.