Photo courtesy of GTFO

Join in on the first-ever ‘Ride Together. Rise Together.’ community run/bike ride fundraiser on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Founder of the GTFO hat company and Adventure For All nonprofit Chase Pettey as well as owner of Rise & Nye’s Ice Cream Beaver Shriver will lead a public pedal on the Rise and Nye’s mobile tricycle all around Sarasota at select checkpoints to spread the power of inclusion. Starting at 9:00am, ending around 1:00pm, the event will be followed by a block party at 4:00pm on Downtown Sarasota’s State Street—including live music, raffles, giveaways, good food, and, of course, Rise & Nye’s ice cream. 

“Personal growth consists of activities that develop a person's capabilities and potential, build on their strengths, facilitate employability, enhance their quality of life and the realization of dreams and aspirations,” says Pettey. “In the special ability community, those dreams and aspirations become hard to realize and obtain with so little opportunity at their disposal.”

The purpose of this event is to raise money for Adventure For All and Inclusion Revolution by bringing a giving community together to show the power of inclusion. With a fundraiser goal of $22,000, Adventure For All hopes to raise enough funds to sponsor two exceptional adventure athletes and their families for the GTFO training and life skills process along with a week-long adventure trip outdoors. In addition, Inclusion Revolution hopes to sponsor a key team member (an individual with an intellectual or developmental disability) for a year of employment at Rise & Nye’s, a coffee and ice cream shop whose main initiative is to hire people with intellectual and physical disabilities, which Pettey and Shriver like to instead refer to as “exceptionalities.” Rise & Nye’s gives them the opportunity to join a workforce with a supportive and inclusive environment.

“This event will represent the message of ‘Stronger Together,’” says Pettey. “Rise & Nye’s and GTFO believe in an inclusive future, and we believe Sarasota has the ability to be the most inclusive city in the nation.”

Tickets are limited to 250 participants and are now on sale. Purchase your ‘Ride Together. Rise Together.’ tickets, or donate, here. 

100% proceeds will be going to nonprofits Adventure For All (AFA)—a 501 (c)(3) that expands inclusive opportunities for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental exceptionalities through interactive adventure programs, and Inclusion Revolution—a 501 (c)(3) that provides secure, successful jobs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Photo courtesy of GTFO