When Oregon Boy Scout Bryce Nurding began planning his service project, he had no idea how successful it would be. Nurding started Bike for America, in which he, two fellow scouts and a local Vietnam veteran would ride their bicycles from the Peter Iredale shipwreck in Hammond, Oregon, to the Hudson River in New York City. Along the way, the group would collect money and raise awareness for Operation Comfort Warriors, a nonprofit organization that provides wounded or ill veterans with comfort supplies that the government may not supply.
Nurding and his team set an initial goal to raise $10,000 on the journey, a 3,521-mile stretch that included multiple days riding in triple-digit heat. By the time they reached NYC on Aug. 15, the group had more than doubled their goal. Nurding and the others were invited to a local American Legion post where they were thanked for their service to the country's veterans and honored by some of the highest officials in the AL.
Nurding told the American Legion that before his trip he did not know anything about the organization or all the work it did for veterans. Along the way, though, the AL was one of his greatest assets. He stated that he would not have been able to do the journey without their help along the way.