A Long Bicycle Ride Raises Money for Cupertino Schools

Monday is the start of another “Great Schools Week” fundraiser for CEEF. Last spring, one local man took a ride—a very long ride—to raise more than a dollar per mile on behalf of the Cupertino Education Endowment Fund.

Huzefa Mehta decided to do a bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles a long time ago, but a brief conversation about him—that he wasn’t a part of—turned the joyride into a fundraiser for CEEF.

His 500-mile ride pulled in more than $600 thanks to a chat between his wife, Reena, and Minh Ngo, executive director of CEEF, who decided that instead of just pedaling south he might as well peddle for cash for the nonprofit.

It was 500 miles in four days, but with maps he probably would have ridden fewer miles.

"A lot of places I got lost; I forgot my maps. I left them on the couch," Mehta said.

He thought being armed with an iPhone and Google maps would suffice, but believe it or not, they're not perfect and he ended up on freeways at times, he said.

It was a self-supported ride along the scenic Pacific Coast covering 100 to 200 miles each day that brought in the donations for CEEF, an organization that supports Cupertino schools.

He fell short of his $2,000 goal, but the idea to use the ride as a fundraiser came just about a month before the ride, leaving little time to hit up friends and family for donations. Though the ride is long since finished, his donation website is still active.

You can help out Cupertino schools through CEEF by visiting any of the more than 100 participating Bay Area businesses during the week of Oct. 24 through 28. More information about “Great Schools Week” and a list of participating businesses can be found on CEEF's website.