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August 19, 2009

KBS Pro Cycling Team Celebrates ‘Win’ with World Bicycle Relief in Chicago

by KBS Pro Cycling

Donations at benefit event lift team over $50,000 in support


CHICAGO (August 19, 2009) – Building on a successful season both on and off the race course, the Kelly Benefit Strategies (KBS) Pro Cycling Team were the guests of honor Monday night at an event hosted by World Bicycle Relief in Chicago.

“We may not have won the national championship at Downers Grove,” said John Kelly, Kelly Benefit Strategies president, at the event, “but we won here tonight in Chicago. Being a part of World Bicycle Relief and helping provide bicycles to people in need is always a winning combination.”

The KBS Pro Cycling Team committed to supporting World Bicycle Relief throughout the 2009 season. A silent auction at Monday’s event pushed team members’ fundraising over $50,000 collected in support of World Bicycle Relief.

In addition to Kelly and members of the team, team bike sponsor and cycling icon Gary Fisher attended the event. Guests were invited to compare the $6,000-plus, carbon fiber racing machines used by the team and the $134 utilitarian bicycle World Bicycle Relief provides in underdeveloped regions of the world.

“The impact of simple, sustainable mobility on the poor cannot be overstated,” said F.K. Day, president of World Bicycle Relief. “When I look at this Gary Fisher bike, I see an incredible, thoroughbred race machine. But a bicycle can be so much more for a family that can use it to get to a health clinic, or a school or to sell their goods at the market.”

World Bicycle Relief has provided more than 50,000 bicycles through programs supporting healthcare, education and economic development in partnership with World Vision and other government and non-government organizations. Members of the KBS Pro Cycling team will travel to Africa in October to visit World Bicycle Relief in the field and witness first-hand the power of bicycles for those in need.

Supporters can visit www.kbsprocycling.com/zambia to learn more.

“Giving back to the community and to people in need is a core value of our organization,” Kelly said. “When I learned the impact that one bicycle can have on peoples lives in these developing nations it hit me deeply. Our involvement as a team with World Bicycle Relief is simple: we want to enhance awareness for their work in the cycling community, see lives positively impacted and hopefully inspire others to see how they can help this great cause. We all benefit through the power of bicycles.”


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