By Connie Leinbach
Recent Ocracoke School graduate Davis Grant is looking forward to doing what could be the biggest event in his life this summer.
Scotland Davis Grant, who goes by Davis and who is a sophomore at N.C. State University, Raleigh, will be in one of two groups from his fraternity to bicycle from San Francisco to Washington, D.C
This annual fundraiser, called The Journey of Hope, is put on by The Ability Experience, a nonprofit organization that supports people with mental and physical disabilities and which was established by his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, the only national fraternity with its own philanthropic organization.
Grant needs to raise $7,500 by June 1 for the trip, which will average 70 to 100 miles a day and will ride across deserts, over mountains and through the rain and heat for almost 4,000 miles.
The trip will take the team about two months to complete, said John Strickland Jr., a Pi Kappa Phi alumnus who did the trek himself in 1991 and who is mentoring Grant in his physical training.
“I am very proud to be mentoring this exceptional young man who is giving up his summer this year to serve others who can’t serve themselves,” Strickland said.
Grant said in an interview that he’s been working every summer since he was 14.
So, after he works in May for a few weeks at the Ocracoke Coffee Company, he will depart June 1 for the trip that will start June 15.
“I wanted to do something pretty big,” he said about this physical and mental challenge for which he is training by running, cycling and lifting weights. “The closer it gets, the more real it feels.”
Grant will be in one of two 50-member cycle groups launched by the fraternity, which will be accompanied by adults in vans. The teams will stop every night for the young men to sleep in hotels along the way.
They also will engage with communities along the way in “Friendship Visits.”
These are about creating meaningful shared experiences and embracing the abilities of all people, according to the bio on Grant’s website.
To date, Grant has raised $4,213 toward his goal. Donations are tax deductible and Grant said he will be taking along sponsor flags (for those donors who want a flag) and will take photos of himself with the donor’s flag.
To donate to Grant’s efforts, his online fundraising page is Scotland Grant at https://give.abilityexperience.org/fundraiser/5912828.