Pike on a Bike, The White Line and the Fight for Pedestrian Safety

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:35:30 +0000

Pike on a Bike, The White Line and the Fight for Pedestrian Safety Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:35

On July 29, 2023, a reckless driver hit and killed 17-year-old Magnus White, a U.S. National Team Cyclist, on the Diagonal Highway outside of �鶹ӰԺ. To raise awareness of thousands of pedestrians and cyclists killed annually by drivers, White’s parents, Michael (EnvDes’00) and Jill White (Mktg’99; MOrgMgmt’23), created a nonprofit called The White Line.

In November 2024, the Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠKA) fraternity — known as ”Pike” — held a fundraiser on CU �鶹ӰԺ’s campus for The White Line and to honor Magnus White, who was a friend of several of the fraternity members. For six days, Pike members traded shifts riding outside on a stationary bike, even through a snowstorm. They rode near a memorial of more than 8,400 candles that represented each pedestrian or cyclist killed by a driver in 2023.

“Looking out at the 8,423 candles was a true reminder of how valuable every single moment was,” said Graydon Abel (Fin’27), who helped create the fundraiser with his brother Gavin (Fin’27) and their fraternity brother Sebastian Edwards (Econ’27). “Change is needed, and we hope this effort makes a difference.”

Start:

Nov. 2, 5:05 p.m.

Finish:

Nov. 8, 12:28 p.m.*

(*12:28 p.m. was the exact time Magnus White was struck in 2023.)

$51,007

Money raised

2,100

Miles ridden, the equivalent of biking from �鶹ӰԺ to Miami, New York City or Mexico City.

8,423

Total minutes, representing the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers in 2023.

Degrees: Coldest temperature during the fundraiser.

Submit feedback to the editor

After a driver killed Magnus White while he was riding his bike, his parents founded The White Line to raise awareness about pedestrian and cycling safety. Last fall, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity held a fundraiser for the nonprofit.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2025

White

Food for Thought

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Food for Thought Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/20/2018 - 00:00

Amanda Clark

To date, the nonprofit �鶹ӰԺ Food Rescue has delivered more than 2.4 million pounds of soon-to-be wasted food — primarily fruits and vegetables — directly to people's doorsteps.

To Hayden Dansky (EBio, Phil’11), it didn’t make sense: Every year, nearly 40 percent of all food grown in the United States was ending up in landfills as tens of millions of U.S. residents lived in food-insecure households.

“I wanted to do something about that,” said Dansky, who grew up in North Carolina and moved to �鶹ӰԺ in 2006 to attend CU.

Today Dansky, 30, is executive director and one of five co-founder of �鶹ӰԺ Food Rescue — the first in a series of affiliated food rescue organizations that have sprouted in cities around the country.

The organization’s innovative model takes food accessibility to a new level by transporting soon-to-be wasted food directly from local grocery stores straight to doorsteps. With the help of hundreds of volunteers and BFR’s eight-person staff, food is picked up from �鶹ӰԺ-area grocery stores 15 times a day, every day of the week, entirely by bicycle.

To date, BFR has delivered more than 2.4 million pounds of food — primarily fruits and vegetables — to food distribution centers and pantries, as well as to low-income housing sites, daycares, elderly homes and preschools. By providing access to food in places where people already gather, the organization removes barriers to access, such as transportation, time restrictions and stigma.

The organization took shape in 2011 after Hayden saw research by Caleb Phillips (MCompSci; PhD’12) that concluded enough food is wasted daily in �鶹ӰԺ and Broomfield Counties to feed everyone there who goes hungry

The organization took shape in 2011 when Hayden joined forces with founding members Caleb Phillips (PhDCompSci’12) and Becky Higbee, who, with the help of computer science professor Rhonda Hoeningman had conducted a study at CU that concluded enough food is wasted daily in �鶹ӰԺ and Broomfield Counties to feed everyone there who goes hungry.

In partnership with the national food access organization Food Not Bombs, Hayden, Caleb and three others started hosting a free weekly meal outside the �鶹ӰԺ Public Library using food donated by Ideal Market in North �鶹ӰԺ. They didn’t know what to expect for the first meal, and brought enough food to fill 30 stomachs.

Hundreds of hungry people showed up.

"I would hear all the time that the meal in the park was the healthiest meal folks ate all week. So we decided to do more," said Dansky, executive director since 2012.

In addition to the weekly meals, the group formed BFR, which today shares its knowledge, resources and real-time data through a website and the Food Rescue Alliance — a BFR-led peer-learning network that connects food rescue orga nizations across the country. Food rescues can now be found in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Seattle, Jackson Hole, Charlotte and Chicago.

“A lot has been done, but there’s still lots to do,” said Dansky, who also performs spoken-word poetry around Colorado. “I continue to question why nonprofits are run a certain way and why food systems run in certain ways as well. When I started working on this project, I didn’t know how to do anything. That’s both the hardest and my favorite part. I get to learn every day.”

A central part of BFR’s mission is listening to and giving a voice to the people the organization serves, said Dansky.

“You don’t know what people need until you really ask. Food is this tool that enables us to have these relationships in order to understand what people really want, and what they really need,” said Dansky. “Food connects people.”

Photos courtesy of �鶹ӰԺ Food Rescue

CU Alum Hayden Dansky is the executive director and co-founder of �鶹ӰԺ Food Rescue— the first in a series of affiliated food rescue organizations that have sprouted in cities around the country. To date, the nonprofit has delivered more than 2.4 million pounds of soon-to-be wasted food — primarily fruits and vegetables — directly to people's doorsteps.

Off

Traditional

White

Nonprofit

Pike on a Bike, The White Line and the Fight for Pedestrian Safety

Off

Food for Thought

Off