Ride 2 Recovery Grand Opening

Events, General News

RIDE 2 RECOVERY GEARS UP FOR THE OPENING OF THEIR CENTRAL FLORIDA PROJECT HERO FACILITY AT ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE ON FEBRUARY 12

 

Mike Prendergast, Executive Director of Florida Department of Veterans Affairs

and Mayor of Clearwater, George Cretekos, to be Special Guests

 

John Wordin, President and CEO of Ride 2 Recovery, a unique ground-breaking physical and psychological rehabilitation and recovery program that restores hope and purpose to injured veterans, announced today the opening of Project HERO Central Florida in Clearwater on Friday, February 12, 2016 at 1pm.

Mike Prendergast, (Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired) Executive Director of Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, will be on hand and is set to speak at the opening. Other elected officials are expected to attend.

Project HERO (Healing, Exercise, Rehabilitation, Opportunity), a life-changing program  that is one of the four components of Ride 2 Recovery’s model, is where injured veterans can interact with the local community to enhance, inspire and challenge them. The program tailors fitness regimens, dietary and lifestyle counseling and ensures each participant success through their progressive cycling program.

“Veterans come to Project HERO to help themselves and help each other,” says Wordin. “There is no other program like this that combines the hard work and the reward of completing a goal you set for yourself that you were not sure you could accomplish. For these men and women, cycling becomes a life-changing addition to their physical and mental rehabilitation.”

Nathan DeWalt, Program Manager for the new facility, said, “Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) will host in partnership with St. Petersburg College Clearwater Campus a Grand Opening event this Friday, February 12. To publicize its presence in Central Florida and to kick off the opening of its new indoor cycling training facility, the opening will introduce cycling volunteers from the Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and Tampa communities to R2R program participants and will start preparations for future outdoor group rides. “

Project HERO Central Florida intends to make a difference in the whole life health of our disabled service members and veterans by providing an adaptive cycling program that will positively impact their lives forever.

The mental and physical challenges of cycling have proven to be a catalyst to the recovery process for our heroes in an environment of support and camaraderie with like-minded riders.  Our mission is to get more riders riding more often!

Raytheon and the VA have provided R2R with the funds to purchase upright, recumbent and hand-cycle bicycles, cycling trainers and associated computer, software and monitoring equipment. St. Petersburg College Clearwater campus provided R2R with the indoor space. The result is a contemporary, state-of-the-art training facility on the Clearwater campus that will accommodate athletes with almost any physical or mental injury.

The new facility is opening the day before Ride 2 Recovery’s Honor Ride Florida at Tropicana Stadium in St Petersburg, where over 500 cyclists will support injured veterans from across the state.

Project HERO Central Florida is located on the campus of St. Petersburg College Clearwater Campus, 2465 Drew St, Clearwater, FL 33765 (Building ES Room 104)

About Jeff Cavanagh

Jeff Cavanagh spent his freshman year at St. Petersburg Junior College back in the early 70s before enlisting in the United States Navy. Soon after, he attended Jacksonville University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. After college, he was commissioned and became a qualified Surface Warfare Officer spending the next 22 years honing his skills as a ship-handler and expert recruiter before retiring in 1994. Jeff expresses a deep sense of pride in St. Petersburg College due to connections that go back many years. His father, Tom Cavanagh, was a career Air Force fighter pilot and combat veteran who taught Geography and Western Civilization at St. Petersburg Junior College in the 60’s and 70’s.