Several of Seattle’s bicycle racing teams are as noteworthy for their charitable activities as their competitive results.
On February 3rd members of Thumbprint Racing (now known as Team FareStart powered by Cobalt Mortgage) spent the evening at their namesake charity and served as the volunteer wait-staff at FareStart‘s Guest Chef Night. The evening also included presentation of a $5,400 donation.
Team FareStart is unique in that several local “angel” businesses have purchased naming rights in order to bring visibility to FareStart.
The team charges its riders an additional 2% on all clothing and equipment orders as a donation to FareStart. Board member Ryan Gist presented the $5,400 check. “It’s great a feeling to work together as a team and make such a substantial gift to this fantastic organization.”
FareStart empowers homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and families to achieve self-sufficiency through life skils, job training, and employment in the food service industry. Each week, a local guest chef serves a fixed course menu with a volunteer wait-staff. (If you bring your own bags to Whole Foods you can donate your bag fee to several local charities including FareStart.) The February 3 event was even more special as it marked the first time a program graduate returned as a guest chef.
Team members converted their speed and endurance on the bike to serve a three-course meal to over 220 FareStart patrons.
“You think the Ballard crit is stressful? Try maneuvering a service tray of paté through a teeming mass of hungry humanity,” said team member Nelson Jay.
“My hope has been that riders would become vested in the work our non-profit title holders. Tonight we saw a team owning that vision rather than just a few individuals,” says sponsor/racer Guy Tucker. When asked about the impact of his TT helmet on serving performance, Tucker claimed a .425 second reduction in his TTK (Table-To-Kitchen) speed.
Team members compete in all categories and disciplines of bicycle racing, including but not limited to road, track, cyclocross, and mountain biking. Core racers include men and women in category 2-4, and men’s masters on the road and track. Riders are well known in the racing community as being a supportive and aggressive group that races as a cohesive unit. The team looks forward to the 2011 season and will be competing in many Northwest road and stage races, and many of its accomplished track racers will compete in the Marymoor Track Series, Masters Track Nationals, and Masters Pan-Am Championships and Masters World Championships.
