Ways You Can Help

There are several ways people can help support the orphanage bike ride. The options are listed below:

Tell a Friend

The success of our fundraiser greatly depends on the number of people who contribute to the cause.  Therefore, it would be extremely helpful to our fundraising efforts if every person who accesses the bike ride website would share the fundraiser and orphanage information with as many people as possible.  We have designed an easy-to-use email system where all you have to do is type in the email addresses of your friends, family, colleagues, Christmas list, etc. and send them information about this fundraiser.  You can access the email system by going to the “Bike Ride Fundraiser” homepage and selecting the icon on the left titled, “Tell A Friend.”  The more people who know about our efforts to help those in need, the more abandoned and abused children will benefit from their support.  Please send out as many emails as possible.  We “Thank You” for your kind support.

Personal Contacts

One of the most valuable ways to support the orphanage is to share the orphanage story with as many family, friends, and colleagues as you can. You can send emails, letters, articles, pictures to others and share the story of the orphanage by sending out the main orphanage website www.shinskyorphanage.com and the bike ride fundraiser website at e orphanage including sample email, article, and orphanage pictures are provided at the end of this section.

Become a Community Bike Ride Captain to Support the Orphanage Project

Individuals can serve as a Bike Ride Captain in each of the cities where John, Joe, and Eljay will be stopping along their 2000 mile bike ride. Captains would be responsible for publicizing the bike ride within her or his community, along with setting up a meeting time and location where John, Joe, and Eljay will meet with community members. In some cases, community members may want to ride her or his bike for a segment with John, Joe, and Eljay. In these cases, the Captain would need to gather a list of the individual riders, obtain a signed waiver for the ride, specify how far the individual will ride, and record the per mile sponsorship they have for the ride. If you are interested in being a Community Bike Ride Captain please send an email to John Shinsky at shinskjo@gvsu.edu and title it “Bike Ride Captain Request.” John will forward you an application form with details regarding responsibilities and requirements. All “Bike Ride Captain” requests must be submitted by March 1, 2009.

Sample Email Verbiage that can be used as part of a letter, newsletter, church bulletin, etc.

I am sending this email to ask you to consider donating to a very special project as a donor or Ambassador Club member. The City of Children Orphanage is a 12 building 33,000 square foot facility designed to serve 120 abandoned and abused children in Matamoros Mexico. At present, there are 6 buildings completed with the intent of opening their doors in May 2009, and then building the additional 6 buildings from that point on. John Shinsky, a former orphan, Academic All-American College Football player and recent cancer survivor along with his wife Cindy are the founders of the orphanage. John, Joe DeLamielleure, an NFL Football Hall of Fame member who played for the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns, and Eljay Bowron, Former Director of the Secret Service for the United States are riding their bikes 2000 miles from the football stadium at Michigan State University to Matamoros Mexico, as a fundraiser for this project. I hope you will consider joining the Ambassador’s Club and/or making a per mile or personal pledge to the bike ride fundraiser, along with contacting others to inform them of this very special cause. Please read the attached article and visit the orphanage website at www.shinskyorphanage.com which will provide you with more detailed information about the project.

It is not a practice of mine to contact family and friends to ask that they make a donation to a specific cause. However, in this case, it is a very worthwhile project designed to help children in desperate need. In addition, 100% of the donations made to this cause go directly to the project, without any administrative costs involved.

Please visit the bike ride fundraiser website at www.orphanagefundraiser.com to read more about the details of the ride. Donations to the orphanage can be made online at either of the websites, or you can send a donation to The Capital Region Community Foundation (CRCF) at 6035 Executive Drive, Suite 104, Lansing, MI 48911 Phone: 517.272.2870. Tax free contributions can be made to: The City of Children Orphanage. CRCF is tax exempt (501(c) (3) for charitable gift purposes.

Thank you for your consideration of supporting this very worthwhile cause.