While it’s come with some unexpected challenges, I’m excited to be LMB’s new Development Director. I come with long family ties in the bicycle world, including running my family’s bike shop in Mt. Pleasant for the past 12 years.
Recently I worked with the family of Marc Van Otteren to set up a memorial page in his honor. Marc was killed by a pickup driver in a crash while cycling on April 5. During this process I was able to relate on a personal level with their experience. This not only made me empathetic to their needs and timeline, but brought up some hard memories of my friend Mike Seaman. Hard memories and feelings I want to share with you. (Watch the video for the full message.)
… A bicycle was stuck in the hood of a vehicle. They were doing a safety check of all the regular riders and one of them couldn’t be accounted for…
I’d known him almost all my life. My dad hired him to work at my family’s bike shop when I was young. He was still a regular and someone that I knew I could always depend on…
… I got to his house, letting myself in through his always unlocked back door. I took mental inventory of the bikes I saw or didn’t see as I made my way through his house – yelling his name – swearing at him – begging for him to answer me…
…I cried as I worked with his family and girlfriend to ask for donations in his honor to be sent to the League of Michigan Bicyclists. Because I knew, without question, that their work to make roads safer was important – and work that our friend needed, even in death…
The underlying feelings from this experience is that raising money for LMB and their activities is the right place for me. Helping to ensure that these cycling tragedies stop is the right thing for me to spend my energy and talents doing. I’d love to hear your story, and hear why you support LMB. Give me a call or send me an email anytime.
Help me ensure that these tragedies stop. Help me ensure that LMB can continue and expand our advocacy and educational efforts. Help me by ensuring a bright future for LMB and for other cyclists across Michigan. Help me by donating to our future fund today.
Allison Quast
Development Director
Music credit: Laid Back Guitars by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
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