GA-PCOM Student to Bike Ride across the Country to Benefit People with Disabilities

(SUWANEE, GA – February 24, 2015) Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) bio-medical sciences graduate student, Matthew Mozzo, is preparing for a 4,000 mile cross-country cycling expedition. This two-month bike-riding event called the Journey of Hope raises funds and awareness to support people with mental and physical disabilities.

The Journey of Hope was started in 1987 through the Ability Experience (formerly PUSH America) – a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1977 as the national philanthropy of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. It was created with the purpose of instilling lifelong service in its members and enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities, according to their official website. As such, only Pi Kappa Phi brothers can cycle in the Journey of Hope.

The ride has three different 4,000 mile cross-country routes beginning along the West Coast in San Francisco (North), Los Angeles (South), and Seattle (TransAmerica) respectively, and ending with each team on the Capitol Lawn in Washington, D.C. This year, the three teams of 25-30 cyclists and about five crew members each will start their trip at the end of May and finish on August 8, 2015. The teams will make multiple stops along the way with organizations that assist people with disabilities, playing in games of wheelchair basketball, performing educational puppet shows for children, and participating in various other outreach events. In addition to the thousands of miles that the cyclists must prepare to ride, each participant must also raise a minimum of $5,500 before the start of the summer. As of this month, Mozzo has raised a little over $3,100.

Mozzo, the president of the PCOM Fit student organization, will enter GA-PCOM’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program in the fall. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was there that he joined the Eta Zeta chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, serving as chapter president, and as a brother became connected to the Ability Experience and the Journey of Hope. As he is currently earning his master’s degree at GA-PCOM, he lives in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he trains for the bike trip in 30-mile loops on local roads.

With the money that is raised, the Ability Experience awards grants to organizations serving people living with disabilities. The organizations are able to use the funds to help improve their facilities and maintain programs vital to their communities.

“I am really excited about this experience because I know I will learn a lot—about myself and the new horizons I can reach—and about others who will benefit through this life-changing experience,” says Mozzo.

Mozzo and his fellow members of Pi Kappa Phi seek to spread the message of acceptance and understanding of people with disabilities across America. To support Matthew Mozzo and learn more about the Journey of Hope, please visit: http://support.pushamerica.org/goto/JOH2015mattmozzo

About GA-PCOM

Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) is a private, not-for-profit branch campus of the fully accredited Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a multi-program institution with a 116 year tradition of educational excellence. Located in Suwanee, GA-PCOM offers the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, the doctor of pharmacy degree and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences. The campus includes the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit www.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.

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