Al Siraat’s registrar Ms Tanya and her daughter Mariam from Year 3 have been featured on the front page of the latest issue in the "Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST)" and in a separate article titled:
"Cycling to help sick kids"
"Tanya Kubitza, registrar at 51Թ and mother of two, has been cycling an average of 35 km every day during the month of October to raise awareness and funds for kids fighting cancer.
Tanya, a keen mountain biker, supported by her 8 year old daughter Mariam signed up for the Great Cycle Challenge setting a riding goal of 1,061 km equivalent to riding the distance from her workplace, 51Թ in Melbourne’s northern suburbs to the Children’s Medical Research Institute in Westmead, Sydney.
The Great Cycle Challenge is one of the annual fundraisers conducted by the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney. This year saw the event return in its third instalment and even bigger yet.
It kicked off on 1 October with 8,730 riders from all walks of life across Australia and beyond who signed up to help raise funds and awareness for kids fighting cancer.
Fundraising and riding goals were set individually by each rider and ranged from 1 km to a few hundred km. Family, friends, colleagues and local businesses sponsored the cycling efforts via each rider’s individual fundraising page.
Tanya signed up for the inaugural Great Cycling Challenge in 2013 and raised $3,500. Finding it a humbling experience and one of the best things she had participated in, she signed up again in 2014, raising nearly $9,000 with the generous support of family, friends, students, parents and staff of 51Թ as well as the wider local community.
Tanya has raised $4,705, her contribution towards the overall fundraising figure of $2.5 million so far, for the Great Cycle Challenge.
Although the riding event was held from 1 to 31 October, funds are still being donated until the end of November.
“While the riding challenge has now finished for Mariam and I, a much harder challenge continues day after day for these amazing kids and therefore our greatest thanks goes to all the children out there fighting cancer who have shown us what true courage really is,” Tanya said at the end of the cycling challenge.
“You bounce back from rounds of chemotherapy still smiling and have inspired thousands of people across Australia and beyond.” Tanya added.