Pedal for Pledges: The Brotherhood Ride raises money for families of fallen first responders

First responders from across Florida and several other states are embarking on a grueling journey.

You cycled 600 miles. They are raising money for the families of 14 Florida police officers, firefighters and paramedics who died in the line of duty last year.

At the start of the fundraising campaign on Tuesday, speakers called out the names of the fallen heroes. Fifty cyclists cycle for donations.

“This is a group of people from all over the world who want to keep their promise – never to be forgotten,” said Jeff Morse, a recently retired firefighter.

Morse was a co-founder of The Brotherhood Ride organization. He started it after a 2007 fire in Charleston, South Carolina, killed nine firefighters.

This year’s bike ride began on Tuesday when cyclists left the Naples area. You cycle east to Miami, then north along the coast, with stops in Orlando and Jacksonville. After eight days on the road, they land in Live Oak in the Panhandle. Along the way, cyclists meet loved ones who have given their all.

“We’re all hot and sweaty and they’re wrapping their arms around us,” Morse said. “Tears often flow. I cry, they cry. Everyone has their own reason for it, but for me it’s that if something happened to me at work, I would want an organization. “I like coming and supporting my wife. And that is what always drives me.

Each cyclist must receive at least $500 in pledged donations. Most riders exceed $1,000 each.

The money goes to people like Lainie McFee and her two sons from Cape Coral.

Lainie said her husband, Jim, was exposed to toxic chemicals during and after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the collapse of the tower in 2001. She said he was working in New York at the time and immediately went to the towers when the news broke on September morning.

She said he often returned to help clean up the debris. The family later moved to Lee County, where Jim worked as a paramedic.

But Lainie said Jim’s health deteriorated after 9/11, forcing him to take early retirement. Jim died last year at the age of 57.

Lainie McFee spoke about the cyclists.

“They are angels,” she said. “Jim sent them to Sean, Kevin and me. They helped us. It’s great. We will never forget that.”

Sean and Kevin are the sons of Jim and Lainie McFee.

Nick Kompinski of North Collier Fire is attending for the first time and said he will keep one important thought in mind: that first responders are family.

“It will be a new feeling to build a relationship with these people you don’t know,” he said. “But you understand that when we make these calls, we are all one and the same.”

Throughout the trip, the elk huts provide cyclists with hot meals and provide places to sleep each night. Support teams ride in front of and behind the cyclists to distribute water and snacks every 20 miles. Local law enforcement often escorts drivers on busy roads.

Lt. Daniel Jackson of North Collier Fire is in his fourth year of riding. He said getting to know the families motivates him.

“Often there isn’t a dry eye in the house,” Jackson said. “For some it is a liberation. It is good. Because we are tough guys and tough girls. We should suppress everything, become tougher. But then you see the children running around who don’t have a mother or father anymore. And it’s hard not to get emotional.

Seventeen-year-old Sean McFee said he and his father were close and bonded over a love of football. Sean said he appreciates what the cyclists do.

“It feels really good to know that these people are doing what is physically and mentally hard,” Sean McFee said. “I mean 600 miles. And they do it for people they may never have met.”

The Brotherhood Ride hopes to raise up to $70,000 this year. It will be divided among the families of 13 Florida men and women who died in the line of duty last year. And an agency that trained a K-9 who died in the line of duty will also receive a portion of the money.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida.
Mike Walcher is a reporter at WGCU News.
He also teaches journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University.