Gene Cerise bike fundraiser doles out $22,000 for youth activities

The effort put forth by more than 200 bicyclists who took to the open road June 25 in Cambria for the 16th annual Gene Cerise Country Coast Classic has paid key dividends for youth-related programs in Cambria, Cayucos and San Simeon.

More than $22,000 in total grants are being provided to student programs at Cambria Grammar School ($7,400), Santa Lucia Middle School ($3,450), and Coast Union High School ($2,875). Also, students on all three campuses are benefiting from $5,000 (ArtBeat and performing arts clubs), and the Assistance League is receiving $2,000 for school clothes for local students.

The grant to the Grammar School includes $3,500 for a YMCA after-school program; the grant to the middle school helps fund the eighth-grade San Francisco field trip. The money given to the high school includes $1,250 to help students develop IT skills in the summer enrichment program.

In addition, the Boy Scouts Summer Camp and the Cambria Youth Athletic Association each are receiving $750 grants; the Girl Scouts got $200 for a field trip to Santa Barbara.

The Country Coast Classic has formed its own nonprofit organization. The bike ride each June features a 100-mile challenge (for advanced cyclists); a “half-century” intermediate ride; and a choice of a 25-mile trek up to the Elephant Seal Rookery and back or a 15-mile ride to Hearst Castle and back.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Gene Cerise bike fundraiser doles out $22,000 for youth activities."