Eden's East Side Road Ride Fundraiser is taking place on Saturday in the Southeast.

Earl Reimer is director of development for the Eden Foundation. He says this is the inaugural ride, though the Eden foundation hopes to make it an annual event. Reimer says 100% of the money that is raised from the event will go toward support services for those who are dealing with issues of mental health.

“Eden Health Care Services does have mental health care services that are in and around the Steinbach area. They include community living that is out of 21 Loewen Boulevard, it includes Segue Career Options down Main Street in Steinbach, where we are helping people asses their career strengths and also help to build them. Segue then also helps people to find work and helps people keep work.”

Reimer says the also have the Wilson Court and Penfeld Court housing initiatives in Steinbach. He says these are apartment complexes that have a blend of people with mental health issues and those without mental health issues.

“The reality is that 1 out of 5 people across this nation has dealt with, will deal with, or is currently dealing with some form of mental health issue across a broad broad spectrum of diagnoses. We all live together, so why should our housing projects not be a reflection of that reality, where we are all living together.”

Jac Siemens, one of the founding members of the biking group Mennonites in Tights, says a number of the people in their group will be taking part in the bike ride. He says Eden's work is important to him.

“I know for a lot of people that's a very important facility and it gets used a lot. We need to support those types of facilities they do a lot of good work. We all have our different places that we give our time and resources, and this one for me is a very special place and I think it is very important.”

Reimer says Eden has been doing a similar event called Head For the Hills in Morden. He notes in that fundraiser they ride trail and gravel road for a significant distance.

“We certainly did not want to take away from the success of that event by creating another similar one, so what we decided we would like to do instead is to create another cycling event that used a different cycling discipline, that being road bikes, that is how this started up.”

Reimer says Eden Foundation saw that Steinbach already had a group of dedicated road bikers with the Mennonites in tights and thought this would be a great event for the Southeast.

Siemens says he is glad they chose the path that they did.

“It is through some of the most beautiful countryside in Manitoba. The ride is from La Broquerie to Woodridge and back. That ride we do approximately once a month as Mennonites in Tights because It has got a lot of trees, a lot of curves, and a hill, and it gives us a different look then riding to other places. It is a beautiful ride and it is not a race, it is a ride, so that's important.”

For more information visit the upcoming events page at edenhealthcare.ca.