More than 300 cyclists will kick off Chai Lifeline’s fourth annual Bike4Chai fundraiser at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 in Asbury Park, N.J. The two-day, 175-mile ride concludes at “The World’s Greatest Finish Line” at Camp Simcha, the special overnight summer camp designed to meet the medical and social needs of children and teens with cancer and other with serious illnesses in Glen Spey, N.Y., to which all funds will be donated.

Seven-year-old Samara Sheller of Chesterfield, N.J. is Bike4Chai’s Honorary Captain, selected for her bravery during surgeries and treatment. Samara, who was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, will be attending Camp Simcha for the first time this summer. “We never felt more embraced in our lives, than during this time of loneliness and fear,” said Dara Sheller, Samara’s mother. “Chai Lifeline became our new extended family, and throughout the lengthy hospital stays we knew that we were never alone.”

Bike4Chai is an annual fundraiser for Chai Lifeline, whose mission is to bring joy to seriously ill children’s lives and hope to their families. Camp Simcha and its sister camp, Camp Simcha Special, give more than 400 sick children and teens a summer filled with love and activities that leaves them with the confidence and resilience they need to continue to fight their illnesses. In addition to camp, Chai Lifeline offers children, their families, and their communities two dozen year-round free programs and services that enable them to face the crises, treatment and long-term impact of illness.

In addition to all the conventional offerings of camp, Camp Simcha offers its campers helicopter and motorcycle rides, incredible concerts, interactive shows, and days jam-packed with activity to give them the sense of normalcy missing in their everyday lives. It costs $3,000,000 to run the camp every summer.

Bike4Chai was started in 2009 when just one rider, Dovid Egert of Lakewood, N.J., made the initial tripand raised $10,0000, and it has been growing ever since. Bike4Chai riders commit to raising a minimum of $3,600 each, and many raise more. In 2010, 38 riders raised $220,000; 93 riders raised $550,000 in 2011; 192 riders raised $1,887,000 in 2012, and in 2013, with fundraising still underway, 300 riders have raised more than $2 million to date.