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It's a rare treat for anyone to be able to combine their own personal passions and give back to the community. Lori Hoefer, a manager of Signature Cycles, spends her days creating custom bicycles and often does it alongside her dog Edie. Hoefer rescued Edie from a shelter and since then has taken up the cause for helping dog shelters.
From that love of cycling and dogs came the idea for the inaugural Cycle 4 Kids & K9's benefit ride, which takes place today starting at Camp Simmons. Proceeds from the 50K and 100K races will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich and Adopt-a-Dog.
"The Adopt-a-Dog program really does a great job and I got my dog through their program," Lori says. "These folks don't ever make a lot of money and work really hard. There's a lot of passion involved in what they do."
Signature Cycles also built a relationship with the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich after holding a clinic there and will donate to that organization as well.
"We're trying to do the right thing," Lori says. "If we can help those causes that are trying to do the right thing and if we can make a little bit of difference, great."
Hoefer hopes to make Cycle 4 Kids & K9's an annual event that can be fun for the whole family. After the 50K and 100K ride portions are complete, families will gather at Simmons Park for a barbecue, swimming, and the chance to play with rescued dogs brought by Adopt-a-Dog.
At work, Lori tries to instill a passion for cycling in her customers. At today's event she hopes people bring a passion for man's best friend.
"There's nothing quite like having a good dog around the house," Lori says. "There are a lot of needy pets out there."
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