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Bikers change gears to raise disability awareness

Register-Herald (Beckley, WV) - 8/1/2015

Aug. 01--When it comes to those with disabilities, making difference is about inclusion, officials say.

To help raise awareness about those with disabilities, a group of young men sat down with consumers from the Mountain State Center for Independent Living Friday evening.

"We're with the Journey of Hope, which is a trans-American cycling team," Pi Kappa Phi fraternity member Beau Samples said. "We're riding from Seattle to Washington, D.C., to raise funds and awareness for those with disabilities."

Samples said the group is working to build leaders in their own organization by helping those with disabilities.

"This helps participants all across the nation," he said. "We want our guys to take away a sense of empathy and leadership from the experiences that they make."

With all the recent negative publicity about fraternities, Samples said his group is showing that they're the norm, not the exception.

"We want to shatter perceptions of fraternity men across the country," he said. "These guys have given up their time, energy and talents to serve a larger community. We're not looking for a pat on the back and this isn't isolated just to our guys. You can find people doing good all across the country.

The MSCIL official who brought the men to the Center said they stand for everything her group is working toward.

"They work to include people with disabilities," Community Resource Advocate Ceretha Burdiss said. "They ride all across the United States to raise money and awareness about people with disabilities.

"A lot of people don't understand disabilities and they ignore those with them because they don't want to deal with it. I just hope that, as this generation goes along, the stigma won't be as bad for those with disabilities."

Burdiss said she thinks today's generation is more inclusive of those with disabilities, but they have a long way to go.

"When I was growing up, I had an older brother with a disability and it was a struggle to take him anywhere," she said. "We didn't have wheelchairs for everyone.

"The signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act changed things and helped a whole lot. It helped to get those with disabilities out into the community."

Burdiss said she's happy that the men of Pi Kappa Phi stopped by.

"Things will only get better," she said. "We still have a long ways to go, but we've come a long way."

For more information about the Journey of Hope, visit www.abilityexperience.org. If you're a member of Pi Kappa Phi at your college or university, you can join next year's Journey of Hope as soon as your next semester starts, officials said.

-- Email: cneff@register-herald.com; Follow on Twitter @RHCodyNeff

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(c)2015 The Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.)

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