Pedaling for a Purpose

In the third year of this ride, Kitsap Ride for Refugees will direct all proceeds to Lutheran Community Services Northwest’s (LCSNW) refugee resettlement work in the Puget Sound. The bike ride was created by five local churches as a tangible way to support immigrants and refugees who may feel like outsiders in this new land.

LCSNW has more than 60 years of experience with resettling refugees in the Puget Sound area. The summer of 2021 brought new challenges to the organization as they prepared to welcome over 500 refugees from Afghanistan. Adding staff, rallying communities and engaging congregations as people arrived became a primary focus for the organization. As of March 2022, LCSNW has welcomed 810 refugees from Afghanistan. They also continue to be ready to serve any new refugee needs that arrive based on current world happenings. Community events like Kitsap Ride for Refugees allow our new neighbors to feel welcomed, seen and supported during this transitional time. Please join us as we ride, have fun and make an amazing impact in our community!

To learn more about the refugee work at LCS Northwest check out this video: 

LCSNW Refugee Response Video.

For additional ride details and registration, click here.

Questions? Send an email to [email protected].

Who are we? Different name, same folks!

In our previous two years, we were known as the Reform: Ride for Refugees, named in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. For 2022, we have decided to change the name to Kitsap Ride for Refugees, which we feel better reflects our purpose for riding, and acknowledges a community that is passionate and eager to give what they can to this cause.

Despite a new name, we are still just a group of Lutheran churches in Kitsap County hoping to find ways to connect people in our area through this great outdoor community event, and to do our part to reach out and help refugees in need. In our previous years, we raised $30,000 for LCS Northwest and other like minded nonprofits, and we are happy to be able to partner with them again.

Our logo contains butterflies because they are the symbol of migration. The “butterfly effect,” as it is known in chaos theory, states that small actions can have big effects. We want to be a part of something that might seem small but that has the power to effect a larger change. That change can look a number of ways: to bring awareness and to educate about refugees; to shape attitudes; to bring communities together in a healthy, outdoor event; to engage fellow Lutherans in our mission; and, of course, to raise money that will go toward helping refugees in this country. The possibilities are endless and we hope that our event has the power to effect change.

RIDE ROUTES

Find the 30-mile route HERE! And the 10-mile route HERE!