Shay Dicocco (CAS’06) bikes for a cause
Shay Dicocco (CAS'06) bikes across the U.S. to benefit poor communities.
Shay Dicocco (CAS’06) didn’t even own a bicycle before this year, but in May he rode a bike cross-country with Bike and Build, a nonprofit that helps organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Participants journey across the country, raising money and helping rebuild impoverished communities.
After Dicocco discovered the program last year, he began training intensively, riding 10 miles a day to prepare for the excursion. Before the nine-week trip, the international relations major raised $5,000, all of which went to 18 different chapters of affordable housing groups across the country.
The riders, who were all of college age, spent seven days of the 3,800-mile trip building housing. They also hiked and explored scenic areas between Virginia Beach, Va., and Cannon Beach, Ore., during three of the days.
“You learn a lot of things in college about inequalities, but it was something else to go out there and experience every mile,” says Dicocco. “I definitely came out with a widened perspective on what it means to be an American.”