6A | SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS “They’re also in about 20 countries building houses, and we’ve got a number of people here who have been to most of those overseas places where we build,” said Schroeder. “Most of those places, you can build a house in a week if you have one of these teams pop in, and you Shoppe LOCAL #MyFlorence Shop. Eat. Support. SAVE. SHOP SUPPORT look at it like it was a week out of my life, but it totally transformed someone else’s life.” “That’s how I got intro- duced to this trip,” said Su- san Pratt, who has been on 13 rides with the Fuller Cen- ter. “I was in Lynette Geor- gia, and we were building a home for a single mom with three kids; that’s where I met Ryan [Iafigliola]. After we finished it, we handed over the keys to the woman and her kids. One of the vol- unteers was a construction worker who had bought his own tool belt, and you get attached to your tools. He handed over the whole tool belt tools to one of the kids and you could see there was not a dry eye. “I still get chills every time I tell the story. When we left, we had really changed their lives, and like you said, it was just a week out of your time.” The houses built are not free for all. As Schroeder explained, “The people have a mort- gage, but it’s a zero-interest mortgage, so their payments are less, and the repayment schedule is based on what they can afford to pay. Then, because the money was fronted through donations, when these people make payments on their house, it goes back into a pot and the Fuller Center can buy materials for another house. In cities like Indianapolis where they have a very ro- bust covenant partner, the payments from the houses they’ve already built total- ly drive the funding for the new houses that they build.” Because homes are built on a volunteer basis, costs are significantly lower as well. “When you can stand back at the end of the day and see the improvement that your paintbrush or your hammer made, it’s very con- crete proof that the world is a better place than when you showed up that morning,” Schroeder said. Typically, riders would build and renovate homes one day a week out of a 10- week trip. “These people are so grateful because they strug- gle as a homeowner or for whatever reason, medical, finance, whatever the case might be, and we come in and help them move for- ward,” said Alice Myk of Il- linois. Riders on the Fuller Cen- ter Bike Adventure are all volunteers, and they get in- volved in a variety of ways. Big Fish Café & Dinner House 345 Riverfront Reedsport • 541-361-6331 “For most of the people, somebody they knew had done it be- fore and they heard stories about how great it is,” said S c h r o e d e r. “But a lot of them are like me; they ride, and they’ve al- ways thought, ‘I’d love to ride my bike across Cyclists with the Fuller Center Bike Adventure’s West Coast tour pre- the country.’ pare to depart Florence and the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw. So, they Goo- gle ‘cross country bike trips.’ is driven by where you’re go- if you need to be loved on, There are commercial outfits ing to be able to find some- you can come here, and it’s pretty nice to feel a safe en- out there, and for $10,000, place to stop.” Additionally, Iafigliola vironment like that.” they’ll support a trip across chose to return to Florence, The Fuller Center Bike the country. People scroll “First, because it’s beautiful Adventure was affected by down and see the Fuller Cen- and on the coast, and the the pandemic like most, ter, and for a cross-country second reason is it had a but fortunately, things are trip with them, you have to nice alliteration. We started getting back on track at this raise around $6,000 in dona- in Florida and we’re going point. tions, but people can say, ‘At “For the planning purpos- least my money is going to to Florence, so it’s Flori- da to Florence. And for us, es, COVID was a big chal- something good, it’s not just passing through, we wanted lenge, ” said Iafigliola. “We going in somebody’s bank to go down the West Coast were supposed to be here a account.’” route and it seemed like a year ago, and we postponed “That’s how I found out great place to stop along the whole ride. There have about the Fuller Centers the way, and we’re happy we been a lot more people drop- back in 2018,” Myk added. “I were able to. ” ping from the ride or adding was willing to pay $10,000 to According to Scott Bak- to the ride late as they fig- go on a trip across the coun- er of Connecticut, Florence ured out if they were com- try, and here I just had to is a city that aligns with the fortable going or not. ” raise around $5,000. In addition, the church “And you always exceed it. Fuller Center mission and vision. stays were particularly af- As soon as you tell the story, “I think it’s because the fected by COVID restric- what you do and why you’re folks in this town have tions. doing it, people are so gener- opened up their hearts to us,” “We stay at churches ev- ous. It’s very moving.” he said. “That’s the simplest erywhere we go, so that was In addition, the Fuller answer. We just came from more of a challenge because Center Bike Adventure rid- getting showers at Coastal a lot of them were under- ers are often repeat partici- Fitness — they opened up standably hesitant to open pants. their doors and let us shower their doors. So, we limited “There are very few peo- there for free. And this town our ride this year to those ple who are one and done,” has opened up their hearts who had already been vacci- said Schroeder. “Every year we have some to us. We feel the love from nated. That was a way to be able to stay in churches and newbies, and there’s no Florence.” Love keeps the Fuller Cen- keep everyone healthy,” he age limit,” Myk continued. ter riders going throughout said. “We’ve had college kids up their journeys, and partici- Similar to other activities to a man who was 82 years pants grow together through that began to open up in old. Everyone has their own their work. March of this year, at essen- reasons why they start, but “I like to think we’re help- tially the last moment, the in the end, I think we still ing each other as much as we Fuller Center riders were all come back for the same are the people whose houses given the go-ahead to plan reason.” we work on, ” Schroeder said. this summer’s trips. As far as choosing Flor- Baker agreed. The group was able to or- ence for a destination for the “I’ve never experienced a ganize a one-week ride in West Coast and Florida to community where I feel so April from Nashville to Nat- Florence rides (which will much love, ” he said. “I really chez, Miss. Only 11 mem- arrive in Florence on Aug. haven’t. It’s just amazing. ” bers participated, but it was 8), the group had several “There’s complete trust, ” a good practice. reasons. “Because we went For one, as Schroeder echoed Pratt. “It’s great therapy, ” Schro- explained, “Part of it is we have to pick someplace that eder continued, “and you ar- we can recruit a church. Al- en’t paying somebody $400 though we average 70 miles an hour for it. 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Since 1939 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 Since 1983 Alva Bracey 4325 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 Johnston Motor Company through the drill for that April ride, we felt like there was enough of an acceptance level of those precautions that we could go ahead with the summer rides as well,” Schroeder said. “We also tested right be- fore we started the trip,” Myk added. “That helped the churches feel comfortable.” The group has more plans to build homes and com- plete rides throughout the country and overseas, and as the pandemic calms down and international borders open up, that will become easier to accomplish. “We had a guy from En- gland come over who want- ed to see America — he saw the Fuller reason for riding, so he came and did it,” said Schroeder. “It was really emotional at the end, because he had come to see what at least parts of Ameri- ca can be like.” When the man returned home, he began looking into what it would take to bring a group of riders to England. That trip hasn’t been sched- uled yet due to the pandem- ic. “The bottom line is, these aren’t just acquaintances,” Schroeder said. The Fuller Center is look- ing to set up new covenant partners, which allows them to give back even more to the communities like Flor- ence who help them along the way. “We don’t have as many hands-on volunteer days [this trip] because we don’t have any Fuller Centers [along the way],” explained Iafigliola. “We would love to have a Fuller Center in Florence, so when our bike rides come through, it gives us an opportunity to put our hands to work and leave some funds bettering this community, because that’s what we do on our build days.” The Fuller Center West Coast Bike Adventure riders will be able to work on com- munity projects when they stop in Santa Barbara, Calif., around July 31. For more information, v i s i t w w w. f u l l e r c e n t e r bikeadventure.org/. 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