Give to the 2020 Four Corners Motorcycle Ride to support the Boys and Girls Club Foundation!
The Ride Goes On
On March 12, 2020, CEO of The Pinnacle Group, long time Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia supporter, and Club alumni, Anthony Jernigan, showed up to our Rosemont Club, on his Harley, to surprise our Club members. The kids gathered around and were able to touch the bike and ask lots of questions (and they did ask lots of questions)! “How fast does it go?” “Do you ride in the rain?” “Where do you put your luggage?” “What does that thing do?”
Mr. Jernigan announced to the Club members that this summer, he would be embarking on a bike ride from the four corners of the continental United States with the goal to raise $1,000,000 for our Clubs. “I will be flying to Madawaska, ME and will leave on the motorcycle. I will travel to Blaine, WA, San Ysidro, CA and finish up in Key West, FL,” Mr. Jernigan said. However, the world was about to change, along with Mr. Jernigan’s plans.
As the world went into lockdown, as business and schools closed, BGCSEVA assumed that Anthony Jernigan’s long planned ride was delayed, or even worse, cancelled. Then, we received an email from Mr. Jernigan.
“I had originally planned to start the trip on May 6, but decided to postpone it until next year because of Covid19. This is a very difficult trip to do, especially by yourself. But a couple of weeks ago, I found someone who was doing it and on an aggressive schedule. 1000 miles per day. At the last minute I decided to join him and I met him in Alabama.”
What?
Yes! Mr. Jernigan not only decided to do the trip, but he did it when we least expected!
“We went from Alabama, to California, to Washington, to Maine and finished the trip at Key West on May 19. We did 10,050 miles in 12 days. We averaged 837.5 miles per day, which on a motorcycle is phenomenal. We were riding about 17 hours per day,” Mr. Jernigan told us. Wow!
But it doesn’t end there.
Anthony Jernigan raised $50,000 to start an endowment that has a goal of raising $1 million! We are floored by his generosity and dedication to our mission. This could have something to do with the fact that he was a Club kid himself and knows first-hand how the Club changes lives!
Jernigan has set-up an endowed fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. To support this goal, follow the below link to donate to the Anthony B. Jernigan 2020 Fund for Boys & Girls Clubs of SEVA, which is held and administered by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. https://bit.ly/JerniganFundDonation. For more information about Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia visit www.bgcseva.org.
Before Anthony Jernigan was the President and CEO of Pinnacle Group, before he was raising his two children in Virginia Beach, and even before he was studying economics and political science at Virginia Tech, Mr. Jernigan was a kid playing basketball on Saturdays at Boys Club of the Virginia Peninsula.
“I had the option of going and sitting in the beauty shop with my mother, they called them beauty shops back then, which was absolutely miserable for an eight year-old, or go over to the Boys Club (Mr. Jernigan was a member before the Club was co-ed). This Club on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News had swings, merry-go-rounds, pool tables, and ping pong tables, along with a movie room, a pool, and a basketball court. It was just a neat place.”
Mr. Jernigan is quick to recognize that the club he belonged to as a child has changed to serve the growing needs of children in our area. “My situation was a lot different than some of the kids going to the Clubs today. They are dealing with things that I couldn’t even imagine.”
“The Boys and Girls Clubs are trying to respond to kids’ changing needs, and the fact that many of these kids don’t have what they need. When I was growing up I don’t remember kids facing the kinds of problems that these kids are facing. They need someone to give them a vision in life, and the Boys and Girls Clubs have helped to fill that void for a lot of kids today.”
Whether coaching members on a path to college, making a plan to improve their grades, or even just providing a nutritious dinner, Mr. Jernigan sees the Boys and Girls Clubs as a continued source of positive influence in the lives of children in our area.
Even though he’s no longer playing basketball on Saturdays, Mr. Jernigan is still involved in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia, whether through events like the annual Youth of the Year Dinner or even in his messages to his own children. “My kids know that when they graduate from college, I want them to be involved and invested in their community.”
“I still remember those days at the Club like it was yesterday because it was a safe environment. There was just a lot of fun stuff to do and I think it helped my parents out, being able to drop me off there. And, most importantly, it was a place I wanted to be.”
