Two 16-year-old sophomores in Raleigh recently put together a day of fun and exercise and ended up raising nearly $12,000 in four hours to feed the hungry in their area
Raleigh: After volunteering at the Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen in Raleigh, Austin Sealey and Cooper Meyer decided they wanted to do more.
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So the two 16-year-old sophomores at Cardinal Gibbons High in Raleigh decided to put together a day of fun and exercise and ended up raising nearly $12,000 in four hours to feed the hungry in the Triangle.
Cooper was also a regular participant in the annual Raleigh Orthopaedic 24-hour Bike Challenge, which raises money to assist youth organisations through an event that requires teams to have at least one member riding a stationary bike during a 24-hour period.
“He had told me about it, and that was what really what got the idea started,” Austin said. In September, Cooper and Austin started discussing combining physical activity, a gathering for family and friends and raising money for the hungry. They dubbed the event “LIFT,” as the effort sought to lift people up wherever they were, Cooper said.
The funds were donated to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, a hunger-relief organisation serving seven counties in and around the Triangle, and Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen, which serves a free lunch to anyone who walks through its doors.
Austin and Cooper put together a presentation explaining their planned event, which centered on raising money through sponsorships of teams running miles.
Finding a place
After striking out twice in a quest for a host venue, Austin and Cooper reached out in January to Jaime Holt, a Raleigh Orthopaedic sports physical therapist who helped organized the 24-hour Bike Challenge. “He was probably like the biggest help out of anybody,” Austin said.
Holt talked to Raleigh Orthopaedic, which agreed to have the event at their building on Edwards Mill Road. Austin and Cooper worked with Holt to hone their mission, created a website and designed T-shirts to raise additional money.
“After we had created all that, the main focus on our minds was to be able to get people to sign up for our event and be able to make it successful,” Cooper said.
They reached out to their friends, their parents’ friends and others. About a week before the April 5 event, about 25 teams, or 100 people total, signed up, but nearly twice as many people actually attended.
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