Push America, established in the late 1970s by the Pi Kappa Phi national fraternity, currently is the only fraternity-owned and operated nonprofit organization in the U.S. The organization uses fundraising events put on by the national chapters to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities — the largest of which is a two month, 4,000 mile cross-country cycling challenge called Journey Of Hope.

The bike trip, which begins Wednesday and goes until Aug. 14, takes three teams totaling about 90 former and present Pi Kappa Phi members on three routes across the country. While on the trip, the teams — which this year includes Kelley and Pi Kappa Phi member and computer science junior Bill Zajac — will make daily stops to visit camps and spend time with children with disabilities.

The teams also will raise money and awareness on the road while spreading Push America’s motto of “Abilities, Teamwork, Empathy, Integrity.”

Abilities

Along with raising awareness about people with disabilities, the trip is a personal challenge for the riders as well.

“Members of Journey of Hope have to realize their own abilities in order to cycle over 4,000 miles in a summer,” said Adam Phillips, director of marketing and public relations for Push America.

Biking up to 85 miles each day of the trip through all types of terrain, participants spend months preparing for the challenge.

“I’ve been training for about six months now,” said Zajac, who also is president of MSU’s Inter-fraternity Council. “First it was small things — running and lifting weights — and right now I’m cycling 20 to 40 miles a day.”

Apart from the physical demands riders will have to meet, each biker is required to raise $5,000 for the organization before leaving on the trip. Kelley, who will depart from San Francisco on the ride’s north route, said the donation is the least he can do.

“I feel like Push America is investing a lot of time and energy into each of the riders,” Kelley said. “The least we can do is reach the fundraising requirement they ask of us.”

Teamwork

Teams for the journey will be made up of members from chapters across the nation, making teamwork a challenge they need to meet in order to achieve success, Phillips said.

“They’re not all going to see eye to eye,” he said. “A lot of different personalities will make up a team of 30 people. Typically differences are overcome because they’re a team, and they need to make their team work.”

Although the riders will support each other on the road, Kelley said help is extended even before they kick off the journey by Pi Kappa Phi members who have made the trip before.

“(They’re) helping me get in the mindset, just trying to keep calm,” Kelley said. “It’s a lot of riding, but it’s like they keep telling me — you work at it and you get through it.”

Empathy

Interactions with kids throughout the trip, called Friendship Visits, are the main activity for bikers, Kelley said.

“The Friendship Visits are taking a step outside of yourself,” Zajac said. “The whole point of Push America is to promote empathy instead of apathy toward people with disabilities. They don’t want to be treated any different.”

Through media coverage and the lasting work of the events, Journey of Hope is meant to pedal awareness throughout the nation while bringing joy to the children’s camps they visit, Zajac said.

“I’ve been told this is like they’re second Christmas — they look forward to it all year-round,” said Zajac, who will be taking the south route, which also departs from San Francisco.

The Friendship Visits are a way for the children to interact with people outside of their every day contacts, said Patrick Manly, director of special events for Push America.

“They’re only there a couple of hours, but just through (the visits), a lot of the people they interact with look at them as heros,” Manly said.

Integrity

Kelley said the Friendship Visits, the cycling and the endurance aren’t the only things the riders have to keep in mind on the trip across the U.S. But the Push America image and morals are important as well.

“We’re held to a really high standard while on this trip,” Kelley said.

“We have really certain rules to follow for Push America because we’re representing people with disabilities and we’re representing Push America.”

For many of the bikers, the lasting impression they’re hoping the trip leaves with them is as integral to the experience as the journey itself.

“All of us that are riding are going to take this experience and carry it on,” Kelley said.

“Most of us have and most of us will keep the message of Push America (with us).”

Maximizing the impact of the journey in a selfless way is the goal of the trip, and the completion of the challenge will speak for itself, Zajac said.

“It really just shows what Push America (is about) and what it is to be a Pi Kappa Phi,” he said.

“You’re trying to be the best person you are not because you’re trying to impress anyone else. You will make your own sacrifices to show people what the Journey of Hope really is.”