Two Trent graduates, Matt Pontin and Tara Madigan, are currently past the halfway point in their cross-Canada bike trek to raise awareness and money for the Mully Children’s Family Charitable Foundation (MCF), an organization that assists children at risk in Kenya.
Mr. Pontin and Ms. Madigan have worked together to form Matt in Motion, a non-profit initiative that will raise funds for MCF, a Christian humanitarian organization committed to transforming the lives of orphaned, abandoned and abused children in Africa. MCF has created several very successful children’s homes that rescue and rehabilitate Kenya’s most vulnerable children and give them a family and a hope for the future.
The trek has not been an easy one. “Tara is fighting knee and achilles tendon pain and has been fighting pain since conquering her first mountain,” reported Mr. Pontin.
“We are both starting to fatigue, but we are cycling for children who face more challenges in a day then we will on our entire trip. We have both committed to fighting through any physical pain to finish this trip.”
According to Mr. Pontin, the greatest difficulty of crossing Canada has been the weather.
“We have cycled through thunder storm after thunder storm,” he explained. “We go to bed soaking wet and wake up soaking wet in our tents, and this has been a huge psychological battle for the both of us.”
Both Mr. Pontin and Ms. Madigan captained their respective Trent University varsity soccer teams and since graduating have been looking for other physical and personal challenges.
“We have both been privileged enough to have parents who have supported us through our entire lives. This has allowed us to get an amazing education, succeed in sport and become strong members of our community,” said Mr. Pontin.
Both cyclists hope that the support they received growing up will translate into helping others receive similar experiences.
“Charles Mully, the man responsible for starting MCFCF, gives children who have no family, no home, no hope, a chance to reach their full potential,” said Mr. Pontin. “If we can help even one child have a family that loves and cares for them as much as our family has then we are on the right track. We hope that we can help others so that they may grow and help others as well.”
The entire Matt in Motion team would like to thank members of the Cedardale Church of the Nazarene in Pefferlaw, Ontario and the church pastor. Your generosity is astounding!
