Donate to the Rappstar Charity Challenge!

Jordan Rapp seems like a pretty cool professional triathlete. He’s one of the mods in the Slowtwitch forums and had a stellar win at Ironman Canada in 2011 after coming back from a life-threatening accident (he was hit by a car while training on his bike) that would have resulted in a lot of people throwing in the towel and giving up the sport. Plus, he’s brofriends with my new BFF Jesse Thomas, which makes him cool by association.

Another reason Jordan Rapp is a Good Guy Greg: he founded the Rappstar Charity Challenge, which has raised millions of dollars for World Bicycle Relief, an endeavor that provides bicycles to students, healthcare workers, and entrepreneurs in Africa. Many kids have to walk as much as four hours to get to school each day, so having a bicycle to help with their commute greatly improves their quality of life.

If you can, I urge you to donate to the Rappstar Charity Challenge and help someone in need get a bike. According to the website, you can donate any amount you can spare, but if you donate in multiples of $134, you’ll be eligible to win some fundraising awards. The prize pack is listed here, but don’t feel as if you have to donate a bunch to try and win something. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled with even a few dollars if you can spare some (which I know you can because your hobby is one of the more ridiculously expensive sports you can spend your paycheck on).

We all need to remember how fortunate we are to be healthy and to have the means to train and race as much as we want. It’s both humbling and refreshing to see a professional athlete try to help out and give back to his fellow man because he knows it’s the right thing to do. Thanks, Jordan–if we ever meet in person, you’ll become my new professional triathlete BFF until the next time Jesse Thomas gives me another shout out on his blog. I promise not to almost faint on your feet.