Pittsburgh veterans stop in Rostraver during fundraiser
Joe Cooper heads the chow line in Rostraver Township Thursday when a group of veterans bicycling to Washington, D.C., stopped for lunch in Cedar Creek Park.
Veteran Leon Johnson of Whitsett prepared lunch in Cedar Creek Park for a group of traveling veterans.
BELLE VERNON – Twenty Pittsburgh-area veterans set out Thursday for a 335-mile bicycle ride to Washington, D.C., to raise money for veterans’ services, making their first stop for lunch along the Great Allegheny Passage in Rostraver Township.
The group is raising money to support the Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that works to find housing and employment and offer support programs to qualifying veterans and their families, said Daniel Blevins, who’s among those on the bicycle trip.
“It gives the veterans a ride of their lifetimes and time to clear their heads and meet other veterans,” said Blevins, who runs two VLP homeless shelters for men with children.
He said the ride also is an opportunity to “spread the word” about the program.
The group stopped at Cedar Creek Park after finishing 40 miles from Pittsburgh and enjoyed a lunch prepared by Leon Johnson, a veteran of the U.S. Navy from Whitsett, Fayette County. They plan to reach Washington, D.C., July 4.
“This is something I enjoy doing,” said Johnson, who served a lunch of chicken, potatoes and pasta salad for the group.
“I think it’s an awesome cause. That’s part of the reason why I am here,” Johnson said. Each rider has a personal goal to raise $335 in an effort that already had raised $26,000 by Thursday.
Donations can be made at https://www.crowdrise.com/335MilesforVeterans.