STEPS, Inc. Hosts “Friendship Visit” With “Journey of Hope”

Pino’s Italian Restaurant of Keysville had some special guests to drop in on Tuesday, as they played host to “Push America” on their “Journey of Hope.”

Push America is a non-profit organization whose primary responsibility is to serve individuals with disabilities. “Journey of Hope” is the official name for the team of cyclists that travel across the country to raise awareness and visit the many organizations who receive grants through the program. For the last seven years, Theresa Toombs has been coordinating STEPS, Inc. with the “Journey of Hope” program.

This year, the “friendship visit” as the cyclists call it, was held at Pino’s. After a long day of cycling from Roanoke to Farmville, the team made their way by van to Keysville for dinner and to visit the clients of STEPS, Inc. Keysville Mayor, James Ramsey, and the Helton House were also in attendance.

All cyclists are members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, for which “Journey of Hope” serves as the philanthropic outreach. Members come from all over the country to bike together for the common cause. Traveling across the country as a team has been a really humbling experience. We get to visit and be impacted by so many different people and so many different communities. Our organization, “Push America,” seeks to highlight the abilities of all people, and I think with the friendship visits and events we have done that. It is obviously a great feeling to give back to the communities across the country, but it is humbling to know that we have received so much more from the communities than we could ever give to them. – Dickey Sloan, Crew Chief 2013

While there are three different routes for the “Journey of Hope,” this particular group started in Seattle, Washington and all groups will end this Saturday in Washington, D.C. So far, $500,000 has been raised among the three teams. Toombs and her husband also presented “Push America” with a donation in honor of each individual in attendance at the friendship visit. STEPS, Inc. would like to thank the owners of Pino’s Italian Restaurant, Frank LaFata and Mario Amato for their service.