Oklahoma Cyclists Donate Funds To 'The Coffee Bunker' In Tulsa
A group of Oklahoma cyclists rode more than three thousand miles, through twelve states to help prevent suicides.
They donated some of their funds to The Coffee Bunker in Tulsa, Monday.
"We had no idea it was going to become so big," said Bill Taitano with Team Suicide Prevention, "None of us are professional racers- we are all novices. We have all been riding for a couple of years."
Race Across America is not for the faint of heart. It is for athletes conditioned to cycle more than three thousand miles, through twelve states, to climb over 170-thousand vertical feet.
"We took on the challenge- we committed to do it and we did it," said Taitano.
Team Suicide Prevention is just the crew for the job. Each crew member joined this particular team because their lives have been deeply impacted in one way or another by suicide.
"It hit home with me in 2016. My 43-year-old daughter was a victim of a murder-suicide," said Taitano.
Bill's thought process was he couldn't save his daughter's life, but he could try to help save someone else's. Team Suicide Prevention splits their donations from Race Across America to organizations that help people in a mental health crisis like The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Hope Is Oxygen, The Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, and The Coffee Bunker.
"In 2007, Marine Cpl. Daniel Ligon came back home after two tours of duty from Iraq. His transition back to civilian life was troublesome and...his life ended because of suicide....we understand every day that our mission here is rooted in that event," said Dr. Michael Horton with Coffee Bunker.
The Coffee Bunker makes sure veterans know they have a place to come full of people who understand military life. They make sure they have the resources they need to take back their lives.
"There are huge soul wounds we take as soldiers sometimes," said Chaplain Greg Bilbruck with The Coffee Bunker.
Doing something that matters in this life, something that could be life-saving- could be as simple as putting your passion on wheels and spreading your message through the country with every mile.