A local grandfather is going to spend 24 hours on a bike all in the name of blessing kids with a meal as a warm-up for his next big cycling event. 

Arvid Loewen is an ultra-marathon cyclist and Guinness World Record Holder for farthest distance cycled in 30 days. He took the title when he cycled 11,617.99 km during the month of July 2020.

Now he is attempting another Guinness World Record starting June 28, but before he does, he's going on one more big fundraising cycle. 

"This coming Saturday, I will begin at 12:00 noon and play the part of bike courier inside the perimeter of Winnipeg and go for 24 hours," says Loewen.

Every single event Loewen does is to help orphans in Kenya, being taken care of by Mully Children's Family. Therefore, he is asking people to text him with their address and leave a cheque in their mailbox for him to pick up over June 12 and 13, noon to noon.

"$0.50 provides one meal so over the course of the summer I'm hoping to provide 600,000 meals or raise $300,000 for food distribution that Mully Children's Family does on top of looking after their 4,000 kids." 

People can simply text Loewen's phone at 204-996-8758 with their address and he will make sure to drop by and pick up the donation. Cheques can be made out to MCF Canada, placed in an envelope that says 'Grandpas Can' on it. 

"I want to ride as many kilometres as possible. I'm hoping to ride over 450 km's over the course of 24 hours," he says.

Being on a bicycle for that long is something Loewen has done in the past over his course of ultra-marathon cycling. 

"You can't really train for it. You train as much as you can so your body accepts being put through everything you can possibly imagine. But then mentally there is the will to do it."

Loewen says the mental game is the hardest part. Therefore, he is also asking for prayers during his ride. 

"I've done this for 17 years and we've had a lot of success in raising funds. We have noticed over the course of time, the more success we have, the more we are spiritually attacked," says Loewen.

Every dollar raised helps the organization in Africa to not only feed a child's body but also their soul. Charles Mully's organization accepts all children, no matter their status or religion. However, 90 per cent of the orphans eventually accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. 

"As we send money out that way, more children get rescued, which means more children accept Jesus. The enemy doesn't like that. So in the midst of these difficult times that I will have, I will feel the spiritual attack and it comes always in the form of discouragement."

Loewen is asking for prayers of mental strength and for focus on the reason why he rides, the children.

Related Stories