Design Outreach, a nonprofit humanitarian engineering organization, has launched its second annual Golden Cup event. Led by cross-country cyclist and healthcare engineer Michael Cook, the event will raise awareness of the challenges facing global communities that lack access to safe drinking water. Fundraising from the event will help fund seven new water pumps known as LifePumps that will be installed in Malawi, Africa.
"This is the second third of his journey," Greg Bixler, co-founder and CEO of Design Outreach, tells One News Now. "Last year he did the first third, so this is the second third, and it's really him raising awareness and helping to raise funds through team captains and through others participating in the walk, run, ride."
Even though it is 2021, approximately a billion people still do not have access to safe water. Malawi is one place where it can really make a difference.
"Just recently the country of Malawi closed its borders because of the third wave of COVID that is starting to hit the country, and there is really a very fragile healthcare system," Bixler explains. "This is potentially very devastating to a country like Malawi that really doesn't have access to vaccines, let alone safe masks. Part of our programming with the LifePump installations is to help provide materials and training for those communities."
Cook began his ride Monday, June 21st in West Yellowstone, Montana and will travel through the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Colorado before biking across the plains of Kansas to finish his trek in Eureka, Kansas on July 3rd. He is accompanied by his wife, Rebecca, and their support vehicle, "Jubilee."
