A group of Santa Cruz, California, bicyclists has raised $10,000 to help equip the Iraq Junior National Cycling Team with bikes, uniforms, and other cycling gear.
Cyclists for Cultural Exchange began its Iraq project after board member Matthew Werner saw a picture of the team training, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
“There was a picture with barbed wire in the foreground where the riders are practicing. It hit me as a courageous thing to do under the difficult circumstances.”
The team's bicycles and other equipment were looted after the US invasion, and Cyclists for Cultural Exchange set out to raise the funds about a year ago. The Sentinel reports the group met its fund-raising goal partly through the sale of Iraqi team jerseys produced by pro cyclist George Hincapie's company, Hincapie Sportswear, and the bikes have been assembled.
Now the nonprofit esimates it still needs to raise $1,000 to ship the equipment to Jordan, where it will be transferred to the Iraqi team.
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