Usually, the nonprofit raises money to support Knoxville’s trail systems. This year, it redirected the proceeds from a raffle to storm relief efforts.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee nonprofit that primarily focuses on making sure the region’s trails and wilderness are in good shape for bicyclists changed gears this year, with its annual November raffle.
Usually, the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club raises money to maintain Knoxville’s trail systems through the bike raffle. This year, money the nonprofit raised instead went to help recovery efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. It raised $59,812 in total.
Specifically, the money will be used to support the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, the United Way East TN Highlands, High Country United Way, United Way Greenville County and the United Way of the CSRA.
The nonprofit said it partnered with a local bike shop to build a custom bicycle valued at over $11,000 to be given away. Other organizations contributed to the effort such as Santa Cruz Bicycles, Cane Creek, Nox Composites, Industry Nine, SRAM and OneUp Components.
The raffle ran from Oct. 4 to Nov. 1 and was shared across different club chapters across the Southeast. The drawing to find out who won the bike took place at the bike club’s 15th annual fall festival.
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