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2004
The RIDE began in early fall 2004 when ITC's new Director of Development heard on the radio about a retired American pilot, George Brunstad, who swam the English Channel in his early 70s raising money for children in Haiti. His efforts netted $11,000 British pounds and the approval of an impressed rookie fundraiser who wondered if International Teams Canada could, or should, introduce a similar "challenge event" into their organizational Calendar.
Within a week the basic concept of the "RIDE for Refugees" was born with the idea that Neil Ostrander, ITC's CEO and cycling enthusiast, would ride 100 km on one day with a small team of similarly trained friends while raising money for refugees. ITC fundraiser Brian Carney mused on the original plan:
"Our strategy was simple. We thought if we shoved Neil out the door wearing spandex we'd get some sympathy money in support of his good looks and sweaty effort. What we didn't anticipate was that people didn't want to just give money, they wanted to ride for refugees themselves... they wanted their sweat to matter."
So we changed gears (as it were), and made it possible for people to sign up themselves to ride 25 km on the last leg of the 100 km that Neil and his team rode. That first year 25 riders joined the fledgling little event and helped raise $25,000. Not as much as the retired senior citizen swimming the English Channel, but enough to encourage us to try it again – and we did.
2005
The second year of the RIDE 87 riders and approximately 30 volunteers joined the event at two host locations - Muskoka and Waterloo. Over $65,000 was raised. What was most surprising and encouraging was the number of participants and volunteers who appeared to come from outside the typical church circles with which ITC is associated. We were encouraged to realize that other people agreed with us that the cause of refugees is an important social justice issue.
2006
In 2006, the RIDE had a break-out year, with over 200 riders and volunteers joining the event on October 14th just outside Waterloo. Over $85,000 was raised on a day when an early winter snowstorm threatened to thwart the 150 cyclists who had registered to ride collectively over 8000 km on a single day. Key to our third year increase in riders and fundraising success was the introduction of a new online event-management system that permitted both individual and team registrations. Teams were the new theme of the RIDE for Refugees and their energy and commitment helped steer the RIDE to a record third year fundraising total.
2007
In 2007, Brantford and Hamilton became our new RIDE locations welcoming over 500 riders and 66 different teams. Notable westerly wind and 2 degree temperature made the RIDE seem a little longer in Waterloo and Hamilton, but together $268,000 was raised in support of 30+ separate refugee ministries. See the 2007 RIDE Report for a detailed analysis.
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