PEPY, an adventure cycle tour and humanitarian aid organization, offers a new kind of gift to travelers and children in Cambodia this holiday season. This December, PEPY brings adventurous travelers the chance to give a gift to themselves and to others when they join the PEPY Ride School Volunteer Trip from December 23-30, 2006 or the Cross-Cambodia Ride December 27, 2006-January 18, 2007. Travelers will enjoy a rare opportunity to begin the new year with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of Cambodia’s beautiful rural landscape while also sharing their time and talents with new friends.

The first annual PEPY Ride in December 2005 began a tradition of bringing cyclists from around the world to Cambodia to visit schools and orphanages and spread the PEPY message, "Protect the Earth. Protect Yourself." Riding from Siem Reap, through Phnom Penh and into Sihanoukville, stopping along the way to deliver school supplies, visit orphanages and teach classes on environmental awareness, riders raised funds to support American Assistance for Cambodia, Japan Relief for Cambodia, and to build The PEPY Ride School. Since that first trip, The PEPY Ride has raised over $100,000 for organizations supporting educational projects.

Former rider Julia Davies, age 33, had this to say of her PEPY Ride experience: "This trip has been invigorating, gritty, and fun. It is amazing to think we touched over 2,000 lives through our lessons along the way. There is something to be said for the satisfaction of arriving at your destination, tired, dirty and happy. The highlight for me was the combination of team spirit, camaraderie and adventure that developed while connecting with the people in Cambodia.”

The PEPY Ride’s co-founder, Daniela Papi says, “Many people donate in support of development projects they will never visit, but with PEPY, you can go where your money goes. By joining one of our trips, you see first hand the difference you are making.”

In addition to its New Year’s rides, PEPY organizes several additional volunteer adventure cycle tours through Cambodia. The itineraries range from high intensity multi-week cycle trips to week-long volunteer projects focusing on a specific developing area. Each trip is designed to introduce participants to development work in Cambodia as well as provide an exciting, authentic experience of Cambodian culture and hospitality.

For more information, to make a donation, or to sign up for any of the upcoming volunteer trips, please visit www.pepyride.org. To donate funds in support of this trip, please visit www.firstgiving.com/pepyride 

The PEPY Ride is a New York State registered Non-for-Profit Corporation founded in 2005 to support educational projects in developing countries and disaster relief areas with a focus on the relationship between the environment and our health. Emphasizing education through action, where participants both learn from and give back to the communities they visit, PEPY Tours organizes volunteer and adventure travel in developing countries and redevelopment areas suffering from natural disasters.