Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - April 10, 2003
Lynn Van Matre, Tribune staff reporter
"For some of us living with HIV, the Heartland ride always represented a marker for us in getting through some tough times," said Brad Ogilvie, director of the non-profit Chicago-area HIV-AIDS service agency sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscans. "But I always wished there were more people with HIV participating."
Canticle Ministries, one of 13 Midwest beneficiaries of funds raised by the Heartland ride, and other HIV/AIDS groups broke with Heartland creator Pallotta Teamworks last year after the Los Angeles firm was criticized for spending a disproportionate amount of ride proceeds on promotion and other event costs. But Ogilvie and many other Heartland riders didn't want to stop pedaling for a good cause.
"People started calling, wondering what we could do, and we started brainstorming," said Ogilvie, a veteran of five Heartland AIDS rides. "We came up with the HOPE Ride, a four-day ride between the Quad Cities and Wheaton."
Scheduled for July 17-20 and produced by volunteers, the inaugural HOPE (Heartlanders Opening People's Eyes) ride will begin in the Quad Cities and will end in Wheaton, with overnight stops in Galena, Rockford and McHenry.
Registration is under way for the event, with an orientation session planned for April 27 in Rock Bottom Brewery in Warrenville. For more information, call 630-588-9165 or visit the Web site www.hope-ride.org.
Riders will pay a $150 registration fee and will be required to raise at least $1,350 in pledges, with all donations after expenses to be divided among Canticle Ministries, AIDS Care Network in Rockford, and AIDS Project Quad Cities. Organizers hope to attract up to 300 riders and 75 crew members, and are working with groups such as the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to get the word out.
What sets HOPE apart from several other AIDS rides planned in the Midwest this summer is that it will recruit participants who have HIV, Ogilvie said.
"People with HIV/AIDS need to help people with AIDS more instead of sitting around expecting other people to take care of us," said Ogilvie, who has been HIV-positive for 16 years.
"This ride also will be [an opportunity for] people living with HIV to show the community that they can be healthy," he said. "With support, they can make a commitment to health and do something that maybe they didn't think they could do."
About 5 percent of the participants in Heartland rides were HIV-positive, according to Ogilvie. HOPE organizers hope that as many as 20 percent of those who make the trip from the Quad Cities to Wheaton will be HIV-positive.
Ogilvie said the project faces several challenges, including residual doubts about Heartland charitable distributions, a public distracted by the war in Iraq, an uncertain economic climate and compassion fatigue.
"The biggest challenge will be getting people to commit," he said. "More and more charitable organizations are doing bike rides to raise money and a lot of people feel that they have done their rides and put in their time. But if people don't want to ride, I would invite them to help by raising funds for a bicycle for someone with HIV who is living on a shoestring.
"I tend to be a dreamer and I hope that this will be the first step in something much bigger."
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