Pedal for Pēds is an annual bike ride fundraising event put on by the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. The annual ride takes place on the American Tobacco Trail and has an option for stationary bike rides located at the Cary Wellness Center.
According to UNC pediatrician and Pedal for Pēds event director Julie Blatt, there are three main goals of Pedal for Pēds.
“[Pedal for Pēds] is a fundraising effort we try to support our division of pediatric hematology oncology with. Our three missions are patient care, such as incidental expenses like parking and gas, fellowship education and research,” Blatt said. “The other goals are to have fun and increase awareness of pediatric hematology oncology.”
All of the doctors in the Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology are certified pediatricians or medicine pediatric doctors.
In order to become a pediatric hematologist, doctors must complete fellowship training post- residency to become certified.
“Each one of [the fellowships] comes with a lot of work on [the fellows’] part. But a lot of cost obligations are on our part, and, for the most part, that comes from fundraising and grant writing,” Blatt said.
Pedal for Pēds came into existence over seven years ago due to the proliferation of fellowships, patient care and hematology research costs.
While the fundraiser has been successful, in recent years, Blatt and her team of directors have been searching for various other ways to fundraise for their division.
“We actually had a huge number of riders this [year], probably about 120 riders and about 50 volunteers, so the turnout was great,” Blatt said.
Recently, Pennies for Pedal for Pēds, a program in which collection boxes are placed in different locations for people to drop spare change into, was created to fundraise for the event.
According to Blatt, there are already boxes in various locations around Chapel Hill such as a yoga studio and a Play It Again Sports.
Junior Avital Politi is in the process of getting collection boxes placed at Chapel Hill High School.
“I think [cancer] is a very terrible, yet fascinating, disease, and my interest has led me to learn about many people in their struggles to fight it,” Politi said. “I hope to make a difference by successfully implementing this project.”
This year’s bike ride took place on September 23.
Anyone interested in learning more about Pedal for Pēds or Pennies for Pedal for Pēds is encouraged to contact Blatt or Politi.
Aside from involvement in fundraising strategies, Chapel Hill High School students have supported Pedal for Pēds in other ways.
Freshman Ben Campbell participated in the ride this year. Campbell rode about 20-25 miles on the American Tobacco Trail.
Campbell took part in the ride because he wanted to “help the program’s cause and thought it [would be] a good experience.”
This year’s ride had seven, ten, twenty and fifty mile ride options all taking place on the American Tobacco Trail.
Two years ago, a balloon release was added as a part of the event.
“We release balloons that have patients’ names […] The balloons are blue and white so they’ve got some reflection of UNC, which really helps us remember what we’re there for; to celebrate and remember our patients and our families,” Blatt said.
