SARASOTA – Two best friends embarking on a cross country journey raising awareness for breast cancer are discovering even in the midst of a pandemic the kindness of strangers lives on.
“So we started in Portland, Maine basically the furthest northeast you can be in the United States. Built our bike out of the box, and then cycled to Florida,” said Timothee.
Timothee Leger and Liam Carr are childhood friends. After Liam was let go from his job due to the pandemic the two amateur hockey players embarked on a cross country road trip that would test the duos guts and determination.
The two would bike 5,000 miles across the United States over the course of the next 3 months. A journey neither thought they’d be on – but on Nov. 10th they packed their bags an off they were.
“I never even tested my bike, we hoped off the airplane, I built my bike at the airport and biked out of there,” said Liam.
The Pink Snowbirds as they like to call themselves decided to bike across the U.S. to raise $50,000.00 in support of The Pink Fund’s mission.
Which provides financial support to meet the basic needs and allow breast cancer patients in active treatment to focus on healing while improving survivorship outcomes.
A personal cause for Liam whose family members have had their personal battles with cancer.
“My mom had breast cancer and she’s now in five years remission,” said Liam. I’ve always wanted to do something to help.”
The duo have biked more than 2,500 miles to reach their resting spot here in the Sunshine state; before embarking on the next half of their journey where their end goal is to reach the West Coast.
And cross the finish line by dipping their front tires in the pacific ocean in San Diego.
Along the way the duo has adopted a puppy left stranded, have met complete strangers who have offered them a warm bed to rest and hot meal. All to raise awareness to those fighting both a pandemic and cancer.
“We are backing them up as much as we can with our spirits and to just keep on going,” said Timothee.
And even through some injuries the Pink Snowbirds want those battling cancer to know they’re with them in spirit and hope their journey helps in raising awareness to find a cure to cancer.
“We’re with you, we’re fighting with you,” said Liam.
If you’d like to donate head over to givelively.org or you can donate by texting Pink Snowbirds to 44-321.
You can also follow their journey and reach out to them by following @pinksnowbirds on Facebook and Instagram.
