Madison-area cyclists of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in the 2025 Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) Big Ride for Palestine, presented by Madison-Rafah Sister City Project on Sunday, July 20, 10 a.m., to help raise money to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
The ride will leave from Olin Park on the Capital City Bike Trail and cyclists will ride east along lake Monona to BB Clarke Beach and then return to Olin Park, a distance of about 6 miles. Bike decorations, watermelon and ice water will be available at Olin Park, and participants are encouraged to wear Kuffiyas and decorate bikes in solidarity with the children of Palestine.
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is a local volunteer organization “committed to standing with the people of Gaza and Palestine as they struggle to remain in their homeland despite Israel’s decades-long settler-colonial occupation of the West Bank and brutal blockade and Genocide in Gaza.”
MECA is a nonprofit organization based out of Berkeley, Calif. that “works to protect the lives, rights, and well-being of children in Palestine and refugee camps in Lebanon.”
“After over 75 years of ethnic cleansing, displacement, and attacks on their lives and livelihoods, Palestinians remain steadfast on their land and fiercely committed to the cause of freedom and liberation,” organizers of the Big Ride for Palestine said in a press release announcing the event. “Riding is an act of solidarity with Palestinian communities as they struggle to protect their children’s lives and their culture from erasure.”
All funds raised by the Ride will go to MECA’s relief work in Gaza. Registration is now open and Madison-area riders can click here for more information on signing up for the Madison team, and a link and instructions for filling out event registration.
