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Pictured: Jamie Needham, Peggy Giertz, Holly West and Mike Giertz
Journey for Jordan
The second annual Journey for Jordan concluded earlier this week in Gays, Illinois. The charity bike ride was organized in memory Jordan Giertz, of Gays who lost his life to bone cancer in 2011 at age 22. The bike ride raises money for HavenHouse of St. Louis. HavenHouse is a place of comfort and community support for families who travel to St. Louis seeking the best available medical help for a seriously ill family member. Jordan and his family stayed at HavenHouse while he received his cancer treatments.
"You look at your son passing away and you don't want that to be the end of it; you've got to make something positive out of it." said Jordan’s mother Peggy Giertz. Last year’s Journey for Jordan attracted 27 riders - this year, 60 riders participated. The round trip ride covered 183 miles from Gays, Illinois to HavenHouse in St. Louis. Riders stayed overnight at hotels in Vandalia and Alton.
Along the way, riders and HavenHouse benefited from the generosity of others; Holly West, Restaurant General Manager of Alton’s Burger King Restaurant, wanted to help.
Holly contacted her District Manager, Jamie Needham, about providing food for the riders; with Jamie’s help, Holly and her Alton Burger King team served 80 meals, free of charge – to the 60 riders and 20 support personnel. In addition to feeding the participants, year to date, Holly’s restaurant has raised $1,200.00 for HavenHouse.
HavenHouse is a nonprofit organization providing out-of-town patients and their family’s comfortable private suites, home-cooked meals, laundry facilities and other amenities at an affordable price. For information about Journey for Jordan, please go to Facebook and search ‘Journey for Jordan’.
