by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
Bicyclists who enjoy riding the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail and want to do so for a good cause will soon have a chance to start pedaling.
For the 12th year, Chuck and Lucy Rieland and their family are helping organize the annual Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride benefiting Day Services at Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home.
The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 9, starting with an 8:30 a.m. check-in and 9 a.m. start.
Riders will start at the trailhead in St. Joseph and ride round-trip to their preferred destinations. The event is not a race; instead, it’s a leisurely ride during which riders can enjoy some beautiful scenery on the trail.
Route options include riding from St. Joseph to Avon (9 miles or 18 miles round trip), Albany (15.9 miles or 31.8 miles round trip), Freeport (21.2 miles or 42.4 miles round trip), Melrose (27.2 miles or 54.4 miles round trip) or Sauk Centre (36.7 miles or 73.4 miles round trip).
There will not be any return bus rides or bike transportation back to St. Joseph, except in case of emergencies.
Helmets are required.
The primary beneficiary of donations from the ride is Day Services at Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home. The home is a rehabilitative mental-health service for students experiencing developmental challenges. These can include social-interaction skills, emotion regulation, mood management and/or behavioral disruptions due to a diagnosed mental-health condition such as depression, anxiety, asperger spectrum disorders, trauma and more.
Many students with these challenges experience difficulties at home, school and in their residential areas.
Catholic Charities’ programs use a collaborative approach offering academic and therapeutic services within a typical school day. Both the Young Learners’ Program in St. Cloud and the St. Cloud Child and Adolescent Programs offer the multi-disciplinary approach to children ages 3-18.
Background
Chuck, 77, and Lucy, 73, founders and directors of the ride, have helped organize the event since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
Chuck is a first vice president and financial adviser for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a brokerage firm that occupied many floors of the Trade Center. He has worked for the company for 33 years and works at the Wayzata branch office.
At the time of the attacks, many employees were able to evacuate the south tower of the center before the second plane hit, but many security personnel lost their lives after helping evacuate others.
The attack was horrifying and affected Chuck and Lucy very personally. Chuck knew after the attacks he had to find something positive to counter the horrific loss. At the time, he and Lucy were working on a project for the Catholic Charities’ Children’s Home in St. Paul.
In the middle of the night, Chuck had an idea about the Wobegon Trail and a fundraiser for a children’s home, even though at the time he didn’t know there was a children’s home at St. Cloud. He did know about the trail because he grew up in New Munich and was familiar with the area.
After some soul-searching, Chuck and Lucy came up with the idea for the Lake Wobegon Trail Ride fundraiser.
“I am very humbled by what has happened and what this has turned out to be,” Chuck said. “I fight for the kids. The Lord gave me the opportunity to do this and I feel really good about it.”
Because he has learned of how much and how common the abuse of children is, he continues to fight for them.
“I do what I can for a cause that is hard to understand,” he said. “People don’t ever know they took care of a need that can’t be recognized, but the Lord knows who these kids are.”
Catholic Charities’ Communications and Public Relations Manager Beth Cummings said the organization has been so honored to be the primary recipient of both of these events.
“For more than 90 years, Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home has had a proud history of providing outstanding care to children,” Cummings said. “From its founding as an orphanage to its present focus on providing day services to youth with mental-health needs, the Children’s Home takes seriously our deep heritage and we are honored to continue it. Every dollar raised by the ride and golf benefit is used to help children in our care.”
Chuck, Lucy, daughter Brenda and husband Max Larson, son Greg and wife Sara, son Mark and four grandchildren (Carly, Matt, Joey and Amelia) have participated in making the ride an annual tradition for their family as well as for the Morgan Stanley employees and foundation.
“The Morgan Stanley foundation has donated yearly to the event and employees offer a great deal of encouragement,” Rieland said.
He added the amount of encouragement he receives from people is very “mind-boggling.”
The Rielands said they are very appreciative of the time, encouragement and financial support people have and continue to so generously give.
Cummings said the events have raised more than $890,000 and the Rielands have provided scholarships to children who needed to remain under Catholic Charities’ care in order to complete their treatment.
Another event the Rielands have helped organize to raise funds for the Children’s Home is the Lake Wobegon Golf Benefit for Day Services at Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home. The annual golfing fundraiser is held in Albany, a city located on the Wobegon Trail.
This year, the 11th annual golf event was held Aug. 21 and more than 100 golfers were expected to participate.
Rieland expected it to be a “record year,” and hoped to raise more than $10,000 at the event.
For the Regional Trail Ride, Rieland hopes to reach total donations of $1 million for the event this year.
“Chuck and Lucy Rieland, with the help and support of their children and grandchildren, truly have made a difference in the life of so many young people,” Cummings said. “They do this solely out of the goodness of their hearts and their goal is always to make life a little better for young people in need.”
In 2015, Catholic Charities recognized the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride and Chuck and Lucy with a Good Samaritan Award for their efforts. They have also been recognized with a Community Leadership Award from the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation in New York City.
For registration information, visit ccstcloud.org/wobegonride. If you have an interest in being a sponsor, worker or donor contact Rieland by phone at 952-475-4156 or 612-219-6230. For information about the presentation of the Good Samaritan award, visit http://ccstcloud.org/news/good-samaritan-awards-presented-(1)/ and scroll down to the second event.
This is the 12th year Chuck and Lucy Rieland and their family helped organize the annual Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride benefiting Day Services at Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home. The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 9, with a 9 a.m. start at the St. Joseph trailhead.
Bikers participate in a previous Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride. This is the 12th year Chuck and Lucy Rieland and their family helped organize the event which will take place Saturday, Sept. 9.
Last year’s Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride participants gather for a photo. This year’s event will take place Saturday, Sept. 9, with a 9 a.m. start at the St. Joseph trailhead.
Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride organizer Chuck Rieland and his grandchildren Carly, Matt and Joey (left to right) volunteer at a previous trail ride.
