DirtDrift 2018: Build Days (9/14 & 9/15)

Morning Huddle with NeighborWorks

Unlike other Bike & Build trips, our build days on this trip were not spread out over the week. Due to the remoteness of the areas where we'd be biking and the general brevity of this trip, our build days were scheduled for the first two days that we'd be together in Boise, ID (9/14 & 9/15).

While our rider numbers would eventually grow to 12 in total, our first build day on Friday, 9/14, had a few less people due to scheduling and travel conflicts. Regardless of this, we went to work supporting the organization NeighborWorks and their goal of building a weather-resistant shelter for use by residents of one of their low-income apartment complexes. This would provide a safe place for children waiting for the school bus and other residents to seek shelter from the elements.

At the site, the corner posts had already been set in concrete and the materials were on their way, but nothing else had yet been done. Although we got off to a slow start with leveling the ground for paving stones, we quickly picked up the pace and by the end of the day had completed this lovely shelter:

With the shelter completed, the next day we split into two teams to volunteer at a pair of local Habitat for Humanity ReStore locations. The Habitat ReStore is a great source of home furnishings and construction materials at a low price, though sometimes they get pieces of furniture donated that are not in good shape or so outdated that they never get sold. As our supervisor said, if you wouldn't put it in your own home or the home or your siblings, parents, or grandparents, it may not be worthwhile to keep in the store.

We quickly found that there is a lot of interest in maximizing sales and turnover of donation stock at the Habitat ReStore, where proceeds from sales go to support Affordable Housing causes. Our goal there was to clear out space for new donations to come in and to help de-clutter and reorganize the display isles. The rest of the day went by very quickly as we re-arranged their showroom floor and broke down a number of old cabinets to make room for newly donated items.

With two good days of labor behind us, it is time to look towards the upcoming ride...

On The Road!

Full Steam Ahead

(I get really excited about installing door sweeps!)

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to share a little update on everything that has been happening in the big run-up to Bike & Build (starting May 16th!).  A lot has happened in the past week, so let me try to consolidate:

• Last Saturday, I met up with a group of 8 Bike & Builders to spend 6 hours with Rebuilding Together in Alexandria.  What an awesome crew!  I spent the day with 5 B&B alumni (including my girlfriend, Emily) and met two 2014 riders, one of them being on my Southern US (SUS) trip (hi JoBeth!).  We caulked, painted, and installed door knobs at one of RB's foreclosure condos... not bad for a day's work!  That's 6 of my 10 required sweat-equity hours complete!


• As I previously posted, I do have my B&B bike now.  She is sitting pretty in my work office, encouraging me to go on rides after work whenever I can fit in the time.  With everything else going on, it's tough to find time to complete those 500 pre-trip miles, but I'll get it done. :)  I'm currently 21 miles in, so only 479 left!


• Planning is going great for my upcoming fundraisers!  On March 7th, there will be a Bike & Build Booster in Riverhead, NY, which is being organized by my wonderful mom and sister, and on March 27th, we have a Trivia Night Fundraiser here in Maryland at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center.  Please see the links on the side of this page for more info!


• Finally, I am excited to share with you that my fundraising has surpassed the 50% mark!  In fact, I'm currently at 57% of my minimum fundraising goal of $4,500 for Bike & Build!  Let's get that all the way up to $4,500 and then some!!! As I've said before, running the Bike & Build trip only takes about half of the total fundraising amount and the rest is given to affordable housing groups to support them in their work.  Any extra fundraising that we can raise together will go straight to worthy affordable housing groups (and I will even get a say in choosing which ones get it!).

That's all for now!  Thank you again to all of my wonderful donors!  The next round of thank you cards will be going out shortly. :)

The Bike & Build Work Crew (2/15/14)

An Open Letter to Webbies of All Ages

As I've been planning out how to raise awareness for my Bike & Build trip, I've contacted a lot of different people and talked to a number of different groups and organizations about my trip. Going out on a limb, I sent an email to the webmaster of Webb Institute, my Alma Mater, to see if Webb would be interested in joining with me in raising awareness for my trip by featuring me in one of their "Alumni Spotlights." Lo and behold, they agreed!  To be featured in an alumni spotlight, I needed to write an article of no more than 250 words, which would be linked to on the home page of Webb's website after garnering the appropriate approval.

As I sat down to diligently write my article for the website, I quickly found that I could not write just 250 words.  In fact, I went far beyond my 250-word limit.  Well, I took that long article, chopped it down, tweaked it a bit, and that is now viewable HERE.  Thankfully, I still held on to that original article and now I shall post it as an open letter right here on my blog.  While many of the things said in the article are duplicated elsewhere on this website, I thought that some people might like to read the original.  Here it is, for everyone to see:

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It hasn’t even been 4 years since I left Webb and took my place with DRS Technologies as a Junior NA, but I’ve already been faced with another decision almost as life-changing as saying “yes” to Steven Ostendorff in 2006, regarding my acceptance to Webb.  A year ago, I was wondering how I’d be able to run my second-ever 5K after a long winter’s rest, but now I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to manage riding a bicycle across the US.

I’ve been active since Webb in volunteering on a small scale, such as working with a local theater and miscellaneous small events, but I’ve yet to do something that will take me away from my job and everything comfortable in my life for any significant amount of time, not to mention a few months.  That was until last October, when I first heard about this charitable organization dedicated to the need for affordable housing in the US by raising funds and awareness through yearly cross-country bicycle trips.  This organization is called Bike & Build, and the prospect of riding in one of their trips took hold in my brain and festered for only a couple weeks before I finally decided to commit 100% to it.

I will not be alone on my upcoming cross-country trip.  Every summer, Bike & Build arranges for 8 different groups of up to 34 cyclists (each) to cross this country from east to west in support of affordable housing.  As part of the Bike & Build Southern US (SUS) route, I will be riding across the US on bicycle from Jacksonville, FL to Monterey, CA (approx. 4060 miles).  During this trip, we will be not only be spreading awareness of the affordable housing crisis in every town that we come to and continuing to raise money for the cause, but we’ll also be stopping to volunteer our time at 12 separate affordable housing build sites along the way.  Over the course of the summer, I look forward to spending a total of 17 days building and 56 days riding from town to town (an average of 72 miles per day).  Along the way, I will be writing journal entries and posting pictures on my blog at http://crosscountrydan.blogspot.com, so please stay tuned for stories from the road!

I’ve been reading about student volunteer work in the WebbNews and I think that it’s a wonderful thing!  I’ve had the chance to help out at a few events during my time at Webb, but in retrospect, I could’ve done much more.  I highly encourage all Webbies, past and present, to get involved in your local communities and become aware of the world issues around you.  It is not only important that we stay on top of the big social issues now, but that we continue to do so throughout our lives.  I don’t know if one person alone can make a difference in the world, but if we all embrace the task of change on a personal level and do our best with what we have, I believe we might just make a collective difference.  I challenge everyone to consider this and to make the decision to start making that change from the inside out.  Find out what needs to change in you, then when you make those needed changes, you’ll be able to see more clearly about the true change needed in the world around you and how you can help.

Yours Truly,

Daniel Snyder (’10) 

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