CHANHASSEN, Minn., Feb. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of ongoing efforts by St. Jude and Life Time to help kids get healthy, more than 100 Life Time destinations across the country will host the third annual Ride for a Reason event on Saturday, March 3. The four-hour cycling relay will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^® and the Life Time Foundation.

This year more than 7,000 participants and 1,200 teams are expected to participate with a fundraising goal of $1 million. Events like Ride for a Reason help ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

No one better understands how a diagnosis can alter one's life than Jamie, mother of a St. Jude patient. Within one year, Jamie went from being a Life Time cycle instructor, leading one of the top fundraising clubs in the nation, to experiencing the St. Jude mission firsthand when her six-year-old daughter Bridget, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

Now that Bridget is a St. Jude patient, Jamie is even more determined to continue raising funds for St. Jude. So far, her Ride for a Reason team has raised more than $24,000. "The money we're raising is helping so many children, including now my own daughter," says Jamie.

Since the first Ride for a Reason in 2016, nearly 10,000 riders have raised $1.2 million. The treatments for pediatric cancer can last up to three years or more and cost on average $425,000 including housing, travel and food. That is why every donation counts and why participants are encouraged to raise $250 or more.

How It Works:

• Register – Registration is open now through March 3, 2018. Participants can sign up solo or with a team of up to four people at www.stjude.org/rideforareason.  
• Raise – Participants will get their own personal fundraising website and tools to give family and friends the opportunity to donate to their team. Participants can opt to make a direct donation versus fundraise by selecting the "Make a Gift" option at an event of their choice at www.lifetimeride.stjude.org.
• Ride –Contact your local Life Time or visit www.stjude.org/rideforareason for more information on a Ride for a Reason happening near you.

Reasons to Ride for Two Lifesaving Causes:

• St. Jude freely shares its groundbreaking discoveries, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists can use that knowledge to save thousands more children around the world.
• The Life Time Foundation is committed to improving children's nutrition through education and the elimination of highly processed and unnatural ingredients from school menus. In 2017 alone, the Life Time Foundation served some 27 million meals to more than 277,000 students across the nation.
• St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and around the world. The Life Time Foundation is currently working with more than 300 schools nationwide.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^®
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Everything we do is centered on our mission: Finding cures. Saving children. And families never receive a bill from St. Jude. We pay for treatment, travel, housing and food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. By sharing our knowledge freely and exchanging ideas openly, we're inspiring more collaboration between doctors and researchers worldwide, and, as a result, more lifesaving treatments for children everywhere. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago, and we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. Because most of our funding comes from individual supporters, we have the freedom to focus on what matters most – saving kids regardless of their financial situation. At St. Jude, we won't give up. We do everything possible to end childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting www.stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).  

About the Life Time® Foundation
As a public charity created by Life Time®—Healthy Way of Life, the Life Time Foundation's mission is to help schools eliminate seven harmful ingredients from the food they serve so every child can receive the healthy food they deserve. The Life Time Foundation is focused on improving children's nutrition through education and the elimination of highly processed and artificial ingredients from school menus, ensuring every child has a healthy start in life. Unlike many other charitable organizations in which a portion of donations is consumed by administrative costs, 100 percent of every dollar donated to the Life Time Foundation directly supports its mission because all administrative costs are contributed by Life Time. For more information, visit www.ltffoundation.org.

About Life Time®—Healthy Way of Life
Life Time champions a healthy and happy life for its members across 131 destinations in 37 major markets in the U.S. and Canada. As the nation's only Healthy Way of Life brand, Life Time delivers an unmatched athletic resort experience and provides a comprehensive healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment experience that goes well beyond fitness to encompasses the entire spectrum of daily life for individuals, couples and families of all ages. For more information visit www.lifetime.life.

 

 

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SOURCE Life Time, Inc.