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The MEMBA Advocacy Fund

Pedal the Pigeon racers

2022 was the inaugural year of the MEMBA Advocacy Fund, which afforded us the opportunity to help support 3 local youth cycling programs! Junior Velo, MSBC Raptors, & West Michigan Coyotes are all programs that call MEMBA trails home base to their cycling-focused youth development activities. In addition to supporting our future trail users (and member base!), this investment brought the organization 60 new MEMBAs and got our logo on some sweet jerseys!

The goal of this fund is to both help programs that already exist in our community and also offer an avenue to encourage folks to start new ones.

Coyotes racer
All three programs had riders participating in the MiSCA race series, which saw its first race in MEMBA territory at Owasippe in 2022! It went so well that Owasippe will be kicking off the 2023 MiSCA race season! Photo by Lucie Reetz.

What makes for a successful MEMBA Advocacy Fund recipient?

  • non-profit status (suggested, not required)
  • cycling-focused programming
  • MEMBA trail use
  • desire to learn about/contribute to trails
  • a following to spread the good word of MEMBA to
MSBC Raptors rider
The MSBC Raptors program launched in the summer of 2022 and had a blast!

Do you know of a program, or have an idea for a program, that fits the bill? Would you like to contribute directly to help grow the fund? Are you interested in helping manage the fund? Let us know! We can be reached via email at fund@ridememba.com.