St. Paul Women Gears Up to Pedal 500 kms for Kids

Jada Anderson raises money and miles for local Jumpstart program

“One in three families have trouble affording sports,” Jada Anderson says she was one of those families when she first moved to St. Paul. Being a young single mom with a fast-growing son who wanted to play football, Anderson looked to Jumpstart to help fund her son’s football career. After benefiting from the program, Anderson wanted to pay it forward, so she started raising money and participating in Pedal for Kids; a five-day 500 kilometre bike ride to raise money & awareness for the Jumpstart program.

“When you think about it, St. Paul is pretty big. The Jumpstart chapter covers a big area, it’s not just St. Paul.” Anderson explains the chapter covers Ashmont, Mallaig, Myrnam, Elk Point, and surrounding rural communities. “That’s a lot of kids! It’s typically $100 a kid to get into a sport, but for some, like hockey it’s a lot more. Typically, one in three families have trouble paying for sports.”

To participate in the entire five-day race, each contestant must commit to raise $3,500 for the program. Anderson is just over $1,000 shy of her goal. If she is unable to raise the funds by the start of the race she will only be able to participate in a few days of the event. Naturally, Anderson’s goal is to raise the entire commitment and race for the whole 500 kilometres. “All of the funds stay local, it doesn’t fund my ride. It’s all staying local.”

Anderson has been using the power of social media to get the word out on Pedal for Kids, “in the last three weeks I’ve had more donations than I’ve had in the last three months.” Anderson says lots of her friends have been sharing and she’s been getting a lot of people donating their bottles or stopping my Mark’s Work Wearhouse to bid on a silent auction she has set up in the store front. The auction will be active until the 6th of September, two days before the race.

She will also be set up today, Wednesday, August 24th, at Rock the Block, in St. Paul. She will be taking donations and raising awareness for Jumpstart and Pedal for Kids. Anderson will also be hosting a BBQ, “Canadian Tire invited me to do a BBQ on September 2nd.” The company is also a major supporter of the Jumpstart Program. Anderson says many sponsors have come together to make the BBQ happen, including Golden Loaf Bakery in Elk Point and Xtreme Oilfield Services. There will be free vehicle inspections, for the adults and bouncy houses for the kids, thanks to Canadian Tire.

When not raising money, working full-time at Jumpstart supporters, Mark’s Work Wearhouse Anderson trains physically as much as she can. “It would be going a lot better if the rain would stop. I haven’t been able to bike because of the rain.” Anderson is up to 30 kms per day for her training, but would like to see more kilometres on her bike before the race on September 8th.

This will be Anderson’s third year participating in the Pedal for Kids race; previously the race was held in Ontario and Quebec. Bikers are responsible for their own travel costs to get to the race, as well as, provide their own bikes and gear.

To donate to Jada Anderson’s Pedal for Kids ride, visit her online fundraising page or meet her at Rock the Block in St. Paul today.