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3,000 mile ride will make wishes come true
The Rev. Mike Reiners, associate pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island, and the son of Jim and Wendy Reiners of rural McCook, is pedaling his way home this month, raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska along the way.
Reiners plans to visit all 93 counties in Nebraska between June 1 and 30, hoping to raise enough money so that at least 14 Nebraska children with life threatening medical conditions can have their dream wish granted to them. He is due in McCook June 21 and will take the last rest day of his ride here on June 22 before leaving for Stockville June 23. He will pedal some 3,000 miles before the journey ends on June 30 in Grand Island, where it began.
A true hometown welcome awaits the Republican Valley High School graduate, who will bunk at his folks' and enjoy a fundraising pancake feed at the 4-H building, Wednesday, June 22.
Emily Lashly and Mary Shirkey, Southwest Nebraska wish granters, have set up the pancake feed from 5-7 p.m. A free will offering will be accepted.
His wife, Char, plans to meet him in McCook. "I've only been able to meet up with him once so far, in Loup City" she said, "so I'm looking forward to seeing him for two whole days!" Char also will be waiting for him Thursday, June 30, in Grand Island. "He's planning to pull in around 6 that evening," she said.
"We are so proud of him," his mother, Wendy, said. "We're praying that he can make it to the end." Mike has been dealing with an inflamed tendon in his ankle since the first week of the ride.
"He's bicycled for years," his mom added. "He's gone on the BRAN ride, but said this time 'I'll ride for a worthy cause.'"
Mike has already enjoyed some serendipity along the way, meeting up with old friends of the family and a couple that his folks met in Lincoln while his dad was in the hospital.
"It will be really interesting to hear about the people he meets and the places he stops," Wendy added.
Mike's blog, (http://mikes-make-a-wish-ride.blogspot.com) details each day's journey, including a help/hurt meter Mike developed to gauge Nebraska's winds. If he gets a tailwind, the help/hurt meter is in the plus zone. So far, more than two weeks into his journey, the minuses easily outnumber the pluses.
A prodigious writer, Mike is often inspired as he rides and at the close of each day submits "Spin Home Wisdom Stories" on the blog, sharing vital bicycling etiquette tips with "Why Tandems and Snot Don't Mix: Honest honey, I just forgot you were back there!" and bicycling tips by offering "The Skinny on Fat Bike Seats."
He is also providing a history lesson on the blog. As he visits each county seat, he posts the history of the county's formation and provides an up-to-date photograph of that county's courthouse.
Mike offers many reasons for the ride, with the fundraising for Make-A-Wish making the headline on a story in the Grand Island Independent, but on the blogspot, confesses that his primary motivation comes from his identity as "a baptized child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ..." simply put, "I have been saved to serve others."
Char and Mike, the parents of Greg and Megan, now grown and on their own, understand the sacrifice of service. And Mike's choice to support the Make-A-Wish cause was not by accident but by design.
In February 2010, the couple's niece, Heather Gideon lost a valiant battle with triple negative stage 4 breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2007, doctors gave her 1-4 years to live. Knowing the young family's struggle, the community of Wood River, where they lived, pooled their resources to provide the family with an unforgettable vacation, providing Heather's husband, Matt, and their four children with a wealth of memories time cannot erase.
Wanting to make those kinds of memories possible for others, and learning that the average cost of granting a Make-A-Wish wish is $7,500, Mike is periodically posting profiles of children battling life-threatening disease on his blogspot.
He writes, "Knowing their Wish will bring some hope, strength and joy is all the push I need to ride for them."
As of his blog on June 13, Mike was riding for the second of the 14 Make-A-Wish kids on his personal wish list. As funds accumulate to the $7,500 per child estimate, Mike posts brief bios for the children he is riding for.
Those who want to help can visit the blogsite; send a check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska, 11926 Arbor St., No. 102, Omaha, NE 69144, designating the donation to "Mike's Make-A-Wish Ride," or come out to the pancake feed.