3 minute read
1990 grad serves as he bikes with “Trail Buddies”
In July, Fort Wayne, Indiana, CBS affiliate, WANE 15, shared a story about the Trail Buddies program at the Jorgensen Family YMCA, where volunteer bicyclists are paired with individuals unable to pedal on their own.
Forever Warrior Todd Eigenschink (‘90) has pedaled everyone from children to people in their 90s, people who might rarely get outside, let alone take a bike ride. “We are SO blessed to have him as a volunteer!” says Rebekah Coffey, Director of Adaptive Services at the YMCA.
“While Trail Buddies is ostensibly about giving bike rides to people who can’t pedal a bike—and of course it actually does that—a possibly-better part is the relationships it builds with the riders,” Todd shares.
“While some riders are non-verbal, you can usually tell that they’re looking forward to the ride or that they enjoyed the ride. You get to know their parents or caregivers and you build a bond with the family. The hour you spend pedaling the person might be the only break the caregiver gets during that day!”
Trail Buddies isn’t the only way Todd serves his community. In addition to his work as a system administrator at Ferguson Advertising in Fort Wayne, he volunteers with multiple charities and in his church, Beautiful Savior Lutheran n Fort Wayne, plus finds time to participate in triathlons.
He and wife, Darla, have been married for 26 years. “Her older sister named her for the Little Rascals character,” he says. “She’s a classroom aide at a local elementary school by day, an avid crafter at night, and a Jeep Girl all the time. She and my sister Amy (Eigenschink ‘88 Slattery) are cut from similar-but-different pieces of cloth. If we lived near each other the two of them would always be together.” Todd and Darla have a 17-year-old son, Zachary.
He gives so much of his time to encourage others, and when asked about a Lakeside teacher that encouraged him, he shares, “I had several, but since you asked for one . . . that would be Pastor Martin Stuebs. Among other things, he challenged what I thought I knew and believed, and helped me figure out how to be confident in it and articulate it.”
He couldn’t resist giving honorable mentions to other teachers, however, including “Mark Ricke (thinking big), and Ed Schutters and Craig Schwartz (science nerds).”
Check out the whole news story on Todd and Trail Buddies when you scan the QR with your phone camera.
Photos courtesy of YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne: Jorgensen Family YMCA
