"Make it Matter" is the motto that drives Dr. Katherine Jeter to quest for optimal health, give back to her community, and inspire others to do the same. This year, Katherine is making it matter by raising $80,000 for globalbike through her 80th birthday fundraiser and bike ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway.
It is Katherine’s strength of spirit that enables her to “make it matter” and that is reflected in the adjectives most used to describe her – faithful, encouraging, and resilient.
At age 66, after treatment for breast cancer, Katherine decided she wanted to make her diagnosis and recovery matter. So, at age 69 she began cycling and applied her Texas-sized drive to the intersection of fitness and fundraising. To mark her 70th birthday, she biked 70 miles to raise $70,000 dollars for her two favorite charities. Three years later, in 2011, she cycled across the U.S. with WomanTours, using the feat to raise more than $200,000 for specialty nursing scholarships.
In 2012, Katherine was first inspired to support globalbike by her daughter and former globalbike board member, Sally Jeter Gregg, who traveled to Tanzania. The following year, for her 75th birthday, Katherine traveled herself to Tanzania and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was there she got the name, “Bibi” from her mountain guides. Bibi means grandmother in Swahili. While in Tanzania, she saw how two wheels can make a world of difference.
Bibi Katherine on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2013.
Katherine’s admiration for the strong women of Tanzania and the strides globalbike has already made there compelled her to select globalbike as the beneficiary of her 80th birthday fundraising trek this October 2018. And she is not the only one to make this ride matter. She has recruited 18 close friends to ride 440 miles with her on the Natchez Trace.
We wish Bibi Katherine a fabulous 80th birthday and a fun ride for her group on the Natchez Trace. We are so very grateful for her support!
Learn more about Bibi's connections with women in Tanzania here: https://www.globalbikeblog.com/single-post/2018/10/16/Two-Women-Two-Countries-and-a-Global-Faith-in-the-Strength-and-Resiliency-of-Women
Say Happy 80th Birthday to Bibi with a donation here: https://globalbike.org/bibis-birthday-bike-ride
Follow Bibi's Birthday Bike Ride at: https://www.facebook.com/bibisbirthdaybikeride/
Learn more about globalbike at: https://globalbike.org/