Home > Feature

Charity profile: Erin George of Cycle for Sight

Erin George has a rare eye disease – retinitis pigmentosa – that is slowly making her blind. As one of the Cycle for Sight co-founders, she rides because it allows her to do something that will make difference in fighting the disease. “I want to do it myself – and I want to help empower others to fight back against our eye diseases, to raise money for research and someday find a cure,” she says.

Cycle for Sight

by Tammy Thorne

Erin George has a rare eye disease – retinitis pigmentosa – that is slowly making her blind. As one of the Cycle for Sight co-founders, she rides because it allows her to do something that will make difference in fighting the disease. “I want to do it myself – and I want to help empower others to fight back against our eye diseases, to raise money for research and someday find a cure,” she says.

Cycle for Sight was first held in June 2009 in Toronto. It now host rides in Ottawa, Toronto and Langley, B.C. With a new ride coming to Calgary this year, organizers expect 500 participants for the 2015 events. Cycle for Sight is the only charitable bike ride funding vision research. Many of the riders are people who could benefit directly from that research. “When you are faced with a grim diagnosis – with no hope for treatments or cures – it can be very disempowering. When you find an organization like Cycle for Sight, it is empowering. We are looking for cures and you can be a part of that by raising money for research,” she says. “It’s also empowering to reclaim something that can be lost, like riding a bike. Reclaiming your fitness can be part of the challenge.”

For the challenge of fundraising, the 38-year-old mother of two small children suggests always starting by making a big donation to yourself, and sharing your personal story: “I start by telling people, ‘There’s no cure, and I’m going blind – but together we can do something to hopefully change that future.’”

Cycle for Sight has a lower fundraising minimum per rider than many charity rides: it’s $600. “We kept our minimum a little lower because we wanted to make it accessible for all people with disabilities, who can often be underemployed,” George says. It doesn’t appear to have affected the ride’s success. “Never in our wildest dreams did we expect that we would raise this much money – to raise $2.2 million in six years for the Foundation for Fighting Blindness is pretty great. It’s an amazing feeling to have been a part of that.”

Some of those funds have gone toward sci-fi-sounding help for the blind. A retinal chip implant – also known as a “bionic eye” – was recently tested in Canada. It has been approved in Europe and the United States. The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) is now funding clinical trials at Toronto Western Hospital. George notes with pride that the person who received the first retinal chip implant in Canada is a Cycle for Sight rider. “It’s just so powerful, so amazing that someone who has been participating since the first ride is now one of the clinical trial participants. It’s thanks to the Cycle for Sight funds we raised.”

George participates in the Ontario ride, the 145-km route to Collingwood that ambles through towns such as Schomberg and Alliston, with pit stops along the way hosted by local Lions Clubs. There are also 75-km, 90-km and 160-km options. George says about 30 per cent of participants bring their own tandem bikes, but many riders still have enough vision ride on their own. Of course, there are lots of fully sighted cyclists who want to bike for the cause, too.