Our Founders & Co-Founders
Ride for Hope Bahamas was co-founded by Stephen Holowesko and Susan Holowesko Larson. They tell the story that Stephen was doing a number of charity rides in the U.S. and Susan threw out the challenge to do one in and for the benefit of their own country, The Bahamas. The agreement between brother and sister was Stephen would ride and raise money and Susan would organize the event.
Eleuthera was chosen for two reasons. First, it truly is a great place to ride a bike – long roads, incredible vistas, elevations and flats. Second, Eleuthera is Stephen’s and Susan’s ancestral home. Roughly 300 years ago their family arrived in Eleuthera and farmed the land. In fact, the historic family home is a stone’s throw away from the Staging Area in Governor’s Harbour.
Stephen and Susan emphasize the success of the Ride for Hope is largely due to the energy and support they received from family members enlisted to help and to a core group of corporate sponsors who believed in the potential of the event from day one and underwrote event expenses.
One hundred and five riders participated in the inaugural event. To date, over 1,500 cyclists have logged more than 45,000 miles along the roads of Eleuthera, raising more than 1.45 million dollars for cancer in the process.