Activist rows and bikes perimeter of Lake Michigan to benefit breast cancer survivors
By Marc Boissoneau
Sun contributor
Seemingly one of the most popular fundraising models is sponsoring people to walk or do another form of exercise: the March of Dimes model. But rarely is that exercise directly related to the cause benefiting.
Enter Row4ROW, a fundraiser created by Jenn Gibbons. Gibbons is the founder and coach of ROW (Recovery on Water), a nonprofit in Chicago that provides breast cancer survivors with an exercise group in the form of a rowing team. To raise money for the organization, last month Gibbons set out to row the 1,500-mile perimeter of Lake Michigan, beginning in Chicago and moving along the coasts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
Gibbons rowed 30 miles each day, for a total of 10 hours between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., stopping for three meals and a short nap. Her vessel, Liv, is a 19-foot boat that rights itself in case it capsizes. But even so, since Gibbons traveled alone, she wore a safety harness connecting her to the boat whenever she moved outside of the cabin.
Liv was also equipped with a satellite phone, which Gibbons used each day to contact her team to report on her progress. It also included GPS units, which updated Gibbons’ position, allowing for her progress to be tracked on her website. The website allowed visitors to make donations, including sponsorship of a mile on her journey. As of press time, Gibbons has raised over $106,000 of her $150,000 goal.
Cruelly, the tracking function of the website was turned to evil. On July 22, Gibbons was attacked and sexually assaulted south of Gulliver in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and authorities believe that her attacker “traveled a significant distance to commit the assault.”
That was only a week and a half after Gibbons learned that her beloved grandmother had died of pancreatic cancer, less than three weeks after her diagnosis. Despite her desire to continue her trip, Gibbons decided, following advice from a ROW member, to take a short break in order to attend her grandmother’s funeral.
Following the assault, Gibbons switched to a bicycle for the remainder of the trip through the Upper Peninsula and northern part of the Lower, now accompanied by a support crew including friends and law enforcement. In Muskegon, she was reunited with Liv and resumed rowing toward Chicago, with enough protection from harbors and other landmarks between the two cities for her to complete the trip safely.
Also due to the assault, Gibbons’ friend, Glen Arbor native Kenna Semple McDonald was unable to host an event for her when she came through our town on July 28. “I was lucky enough to join Jenn on her 75-mile ride around the Leelanau peninsula,” McDonald said.
“And though we weren’t able to hold an event for Jenn, I did take her and her crew for pizza, and we made sure she didn’t leave without an M-22 shirt,” she added.
Despite the setbacks from the assault and her grandmother’s death, Gibbons expects to arrive back in the Windy City in mid-August, as planned. When she does, Liv will hoist a Chicago flag signed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel with the words: “Jenn- Welcome home! Chicago is proud of you. You’ve got this. -Rahm”
For more information on Gibbons’ trip, or to donate, visit row4row.org.
