The 7th annual Pedal on the Pier spin-a-thon fundraiser raised more than $1 million, twenty thousand dollars for Harold Robinson Foundation on Sunday, June 4 at the historic Santa Monica Pier. The high- energy outdoor cycling event was hosted by comedian Ben Gleib, featured live music performances and brought out numerous celebrities to ride and support the cause. This year's celebrity attendees included actress Rosanna Arquette, actress and model Molly Sims, Shameless actress Shanola Hampton, Laker Girls, Rams Cheerleaders, LA Kings Girls, actor and director Jaleel White (a.k.a. Urkel), TV Newscaster Courtney Friel, model and fitness trainer Shannon Decker, Former Laker/Clipper Kareem Rush, ESPN Reporter Julie Stewart-Banks, Dave Matthew's Band's Rashawn Ross, Fishbone's Norwood Fisher, numerous cast members of "Young and the Restless" and "General Hospital" including Robert Adamson, Cait Fairbanks, Daniel Hall, Robert Palmer Watkins, Haley Erin and Christian LeBlanc and model Logan Luedtke.
"With more than 100 teams and 1,000 attendees, we were able to hit record-breaking numbers this year," said Joyce Hyser Robinson, co-founder of the Harold Robinson Foundation. "With award-winning musical performances, our wonderful celebrity support, food, drinks, fun activations and the beautiful Pacific as the backdrop, I am proud to say Pedal on the Pier has quickly become one of LA's most popular, physical philanthropic charity events."
After this year's totals, Pedal on the Pier will have raised more than five million dollars for Los Angeles' underserved kids and families through the Harold Robinson Foundation by providing them with the social, physical, intellectual and emotional impact of a year-round, life-changing camp program.
This year's event featured live musical performances by tribute band Earth, Wind and Power featuring Nth Power and members of Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake's bands, DJ Mike Taylor, Rashawn Ross of Dave Mathews Band and Norwood Fisher of Fishbone, and was sponsored by Stages Cycling, Caliwater, BeatBike, Wahoo's Fish Tacos, Taos Footwear, Planet Smoothie, Del Frisco's Grille, Spinfish Poke, Kona Ice, Bead Relief, Snap Yourself and Orangetheory Fitness.
The Harold Robinson Foundation also revealed on Sunday a new partnership with the Queen Mary and its leaseholder, Los Angeles-based developer Urban Commons, to bring the Camp Ubuntu program to deserving Long Beach schools in 2018. Long Beach City Councilmember Jeannie Pearce along with members of the Urban Commons team were in attendance at the Pedal on the Pier event to commemorate this exciting announcement. More details on the partnership will be released in the near future.
The Harold Robinson Foundation is a nonprofit that provides unity and community through the organization's flagship program, Camp Ubuntu. It began with an idea from Jeff Robinson almost 20 years ago; that every child should have the same opportunities he had as a kid, no matter where they stand on the socioeconomic ladder. The Harold Robinson Foundation provides the funding and resources to send Los Angeles's underserved children to camp, in a safe and nurturing environment, far away from the stress that most of them face on a daily basis. HRF provides parenting workshops andthey also started a day camp in the center of Watts, CA.
Ubuntu is an ancient South African philosophy that means, "I am because we are." The Harold Robinson Foundation has adopted this philosophy as a tool to teach children the guiding principles of the foundation, which are family, respect, unity and community. This unifying principle frames all of Camp Ubuntu's programming. This past year, Camp Ubuntu hosted more than 2,000 students from 20 high-need schools, mostly in the community of Watts.
Watch this video for a look at the camp and its overwhelming effects on inner-city kids.
For more information or to donate to the Harold Robinson Foundation, visit http://pedalonthepier.org.