A New Record for the Second Annual Chambana Cranksgiving: 888 Pounds!

Thank you to all of our cyclists, sponsors, and donors who made Chambana Cranksgiving 2009 an unqualified success! Thirty-four cyclists came out to ride on what turned out to be a gorgeous day on Saturday; we saw lots of familiar faces from last year, and were thrilled to see some new ones join the bunch too.

When we first started to plan this year's Cranksgiving, we were a bit disheartened to hear the calculation from The Eastern Illinois Foodbank which estimates that local hungry families’ need for food has increased 30 percent from last year - because, as we all know, last year food banks across the country were already unable to keep up with increased demand. However, our cyclists, sponsors, and donors certainly stepped up to the challenge, and hauled 888 pounds of nonperishable food across the finish line - more than 30 percent above last year's total of 613 pounds, even though we did it this year with fewer riders (perhaps we should revert back to last year's practice of holding it on a Sunday?). That means we've raised just over 1500 pounds in two years! That's a lot of green beans...and oatmeal...and peanut butter...and tuna...and cranberry sauce...

In sum, we are very proud to be part of a community whose members are concerned with the wellbeing of their neighbors - and, moreover, who enthusiastically embrace a slightly unconventional means of addressing those neighbors' needs. We are also proud to be affiliated with the communities of other great cities like New York, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, and Miami (and the list goes on) who also ran their own Cranksgiving events this year; we're eager to hear the results of those alleycat food drives too. We had a blast on Saturday, and greatly appreciate the response of our participants - and the sponsors whose contributions of prizes and after party munchies ensured that our cyclists didn't go home empty-handed or empty-stomached. We're already looking forward to our third annual Chambana Cranksgiving (mark your calendars for mid-November 2010!) and definitely hope to see you there. Thanks for a great event!