Raleigh Sponsors Planting America Inc.

Grant Gardner, Virginia Tech, and Matt Cortina, Rutgers University, are getting set to embark on the journey of a lifetime. This duo will be riding bicycles across the country this summer and planting one million trees with schools, organizations and communities in the 56 towns in which they will be stopping.

The two founded Planting America Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization over a year ago with the goal of creating, funding and executing large environmental projects across the country. Their 4200 cross-country journey is the inaugural project of the organization, beginning in Yorktown, VA this May and ending in Florence, OR after leaving one million new trees in their trail.

Gardner and Cortina began crafting and working on the idea in 2006, founded a non-profit organization in March 2007 and received tax exempt status in June 2007. Since then, they have been featured in media from New York to Virginia including appearances on NPR and CBS.

We here at Raleigh Bicycles donated two 2008 Supercourse road bikes to take Gardner and Cortina across the country.

The Planting America project is also planning on big screen exposure, working with two award-winning filmmakers to arrange a documentary about the trip and the overall message of environmental maintenance and social responsibility.

Check out the website www.plantingamerica.org and you can find their trip itinerary and everything else about this great organization and their ride across the country.

Ride starts May 2008 - we will keep you updated.

Enjoy the Ride!