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  • Kathryn Vculek, of Waukomis, works on a Habitat for Humanity build at Charlottesville, Va. (Photo provided)

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September 5, 2010

Local college student bikes across the country as Bike and Build lends hand to Habitat for Humanity

By Bridget Nash Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — She hadn’t spent much time on a bicycle, but when Oklahoma Bible Academy graduate Kathryn Vculek heard about Bike and Build, she just had to join the mission.

Bike and Build is an organization that recruits team members to pedal across the nation, building affordable housing along the way.

“I knew it was something I had to be a part of,” Vculek said.

To become part of a Bike and Build team, Vculek first had to book 500 hours on a bicycle, which she considered her training.

“I had never gone more than five miles at a time (before that),” Vculek said.

Vculek completed her 500 hours, joined a Bike and Build team and spent her summer biking and building, assisting on Habitat for Humanity projects.

“The trip, for me, took from May 19 to July 31,” Vculek said.

Vculek said she and her teammates averaged about 70 miles a day on their bicycles and they stopped about once a week to help build houses with affordable housing affiliates.

The trip wasn’t necessarily an easy one, but that is part of what made it worthwhile, Vculek said.

“The physical challenge definitely gives you a lot of self-confidence,” Vculek said.

She said it also was refreshing to be able to travel and see people helping people.

“Our faith in the generosity of good people was definitely renewed,” she said.

The trip also was an opportunity for Vculek to see the nation in a whole new way.

“It’s an opportunity and an amazing adventure and along the way you get to help people and you get to see the country,” Vculek said.

And when she said “see the country,” she meant it.

“We dipped our back tires in the Atlantic and we dipped our front tires in the Pacific.”

Vculek’s trip began in Virginia Beach, Va., and ended in Cannon Beach, Ore.

Vculek is the daughter of Kris and Al Vculek, of Waukomis. She currently is majoring in accounting at the University of Oklahoma.

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