Hanover, NH (USA)

Since I returned early from my hiking trip, I was able to volunteer at The 40th Prouty Bike Ride event this morning!  The only spots that were available when I signed up last night were for the “Finishing Area Cheering Team” - not a job I might normally have chosen to do.  However, I can emphatically say that it was a great experience.  I arrived at Dewey Lot at around 0800 and, along with a few other (way more energetic and loud) folks, waved pom-poms, shook cow-bells and snapped hand-clappers.  The finish line was at the top of the last hill of the 20-mile course, on the edge of the Dartmouth campus.  As a result, we got to watch the reaction of the bikers as they started their climbs.  Mostly, everyone smiled and waved or made fist pumps.  Passing cars often joined in with the celebration, with the people inside waving and beeping horns.  I think everyone in this town of 5000 residents knows the significance of the year’s biggest fundraiser…. Some of the participants were cancer survivors; others wore ribbons in memory of their lost friends or family members.  There was an 85-year old gentleman who proudly crossed the line with his grandson right behind him.  There was an international team of smiling young students (I presume).  Most moving, though, was a large group of cyclists (in matching red uniforms) who were riding with their teammate, a man who’d recently finished a regimen of chemo, and they completely surrounded him in support.  I met Prouty Board members, freelance photographers from across the Upper Valley, Executives from the D-H Hospital and Norris Cotton Cancer Cancer and lots of other 20ish-year volunteers (I was definitely an oddball as a first year person).  The staff running the event were awesome and made me feel very welcome - during my 4.5 hours (done at around 1230) helping out on this glorious July morning, they provided drinks, snacks and generous kudos.  It seems like forever since I was able to do any in-person volunteering and this event made me remember the great sensation of helping to make a difference in the world!