MHS Grad Bikes Across the Nation for Charity

A typical summer for Alex Stuckel usually consists of waking up early to do construction work, playing soccer and spending time with his family and friends.

But Stuckel, a 2009 Mehlville High School graduate, decided to spend this summer doing something a bit unconventional.

Stuckel, 20, is in the midst of a cross-country bicycle trek to help raise funds and awareness for people with disabilities. The event, called Journey of Hope, is hosted by Push America, the national philanthropy of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Stuckel and 79 other Pi Kappa Phi members from around the country began the Journey of Hope on June 8. Stuckel’s team of 22 cyclists started the trek in Seattle (the TransAmerica route), while two other teams of cyclists began in San Francisco (the North and South routes).

The Journey of Hope, established in 1987, will culminate with the arrival of all three teams in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 13. When that day comes, Stuckel will have biked more than 4,100 miles across the country in 67 days. That’s an especially impressive feat for someone who, before last summer, had not ridden a bicycle since he was 12 years old.

Stuckel, a junior biochemistry major at the University of Missouri, first learned about the Journey of Hope six years ago when his parents, Jay and Christine Stuckel, hosted the cyclists at their house and cooked them a meal.

Jay, also a member of Pi Kappa Phi, said the TransAmerica team changed their route six years ago so that they travel through the St. Louis area. When that change happened, Jay and Christine jumped at the opportunity to host the cyclists at their house. The Stuckels have hosted the bikers every year since.

Stuckel said that seeing the cyclists so often helped push him to try the Journey of Hope this year.

“When I started Pi Kappa Phi, I wanted to do a lot of cool events like this,” he said. “We’re the only fraternity that has our own national philanthropy, so it’s a really rare event to do, one of a kind. It’s a cool way to see the country, help some people out and have a really good summer.”

To prepare for the Journey of Hope, Stuckel rode about 1,000 miles on his bicycle. He spent $1,500 of his own money to purchase a bike and other necessary equipment. Additionally, he had to raise $5,000 – which came through donations – to give to Push America.

Push America distributes the money to organizations that host and serve people with disabilities. The 2011 Journey of Hope team has raised more than $570,000 so far. Their goal is to raise $575,000.

The Incredible Journey of Calvin Chen part 8-_ 笑 臉 _-無名小站網誌

Entering show business and working as a performer unearthed a different me at each stage of my development.

I sometimes think that if I hadn’t persevered at the time, I probably wouldn’t have known what I could achieve! And now my most important task is to keep on working hard at performing and finding the right projects to show to my fans. Usually a city’s prime real estate is easily covered with skyscrapers where people can see a panoramic view of the city, attracting multinational companies to set up offices but charging high rents. Yet in Vancouver, the thousand-acre Stanley Park has been preserved and maintained by the government, becoming a greenspace where tourists and citizens can rest their minds and bodies. Here there are towering Western pine, hemlock, fir and other evergreen trees. The lake is an ecological preserve, providing a haven for many species of birds and insects. Stanley Park is like a completely natural ecology classroom. Everyone says it is Vancouver’s lungs, making each visitor forget his worries when he experiences the integration of nature and man. Inside the park, there are many totem poles left by the First Nations peoples of Vancouver; there's a mystical bird, a bald eagle, a whale, a black bear, and many other imagery. Each totem has its own story narrating the First Nations peoples’ brave feats in those days. They wanted their liberty and dared to pursue their dream, so they cultivated this piece of land according to their own way. It is this “courage” that is an important motivation that pushes me to keep on exploring my own potential. I believe that as long as I work hard, the people who support me will feel my sincerity, and as time goes by they will feel my improvement and growth. The friendliness, tolerance and earnestness that I saw in Canadians make me use the same attitude when doing my job as a performer. I’ve always admired their “work hard, play hard” mentality, that they have fun in the same measure as they work – very earnestly. If you live your life like this, the journey is worthwhile. The experience of studying and living in Vancouver really opened up my horizons. Previously I had taken the initiative to tell my agency about my wish to learn beatboxing, because during the Sunshine Boyz finals, I had seen my competitors perform it and create some dynamic music just from using beatboxing.

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