Riding for a Cause

Cathy Carter said she was brought up to always do things for others before she did something for herself.

Last May, the assistant director for facilities for Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, flourished supporting The Road to Hope, a 250-mile bike ride organized by Law Enforcement United, a fund raising group for charities that give support services to families of police officers killed in the line of duty. 

Carter’s son, Durham Police Officer Charles J. Callemyn, was killed in a single vehicle accident while responding to back up another officer on a traffic stop in 2007. Callemyn, who spent six years with the Duke University Police Department, was married with two sons.
 

In her role with The Road to Hope, Carter and fellow team members ventured ahead of riders, setting up water and protein bars for breaks, or sandwiches and fruit for lunch. She made sure that, when the day’s ride was done, hotel rooms waited for weary cyclists.

“I see people who love their neighbors as they love themselves,” Carter said of the riders. “I see people that prove that, in everything that happens in our life, there is joy if you look for it.”

One of the major initiatives Law Enforcement United generates money for are the summer programs run by the group Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS). The retreats offer a needed dose of fun and support for the children of slain police officers.

Callemyn’s two sons, Joshua and Justin, attended the camps. After seeing the way the retreats helped her grandsons work through their grief, Carter said she wanted to ensure they remained a resource for other children who find themselves the same situation.

“That’s why I’m so motivated to help,” Carter said.

The motivation is the same for Duke Police Capt. R. Isley and Duke Police Sgt. Mark Faust, who will both ride in their ninth Road to Hope starting May 10. Duke Police Officer E. Lyons will be riding for the first time.

Both Faust and Isley knew Callemyn and ride in his memory.

“When you lose a colleague and the family is left here, you don’t know what to do,” Isley said. “You want to do something, but you don’t know what it is. This was one way we felt we could help.”

The roughly 500 riders participating in the three-day ride are broken up into different groups, each group riding a different route. While groups can begin in Virginia, New Jersey or Pennsylvania, they’ll all converge in Washington D.C. and ride in during the culmination of the National Police Week celebrations on May 12.

While many riders are police officers, they are joined by several family members of fallen officers.

Last year, Joshua Callemyn, the oldest of Charles Callemyn’s two sons, rode for the first time. He’ll be back again this year, riding alongside Isley, Faust and Lyons – with support from Carter - on a route that will begin in the New Jersey countryside.

“I feel honored just to be able to ride for the families,” Isley said. “But, it’s even more rewarding when the survivors themselves are riding with you. You get to know them and hear their stories. You can read about an officer who’s fallen and read about who they’ve left behind, the kids or the spouse. But it’s a totally different thing when you actually meet the families, or you meet the children and you’re riding with them. I love how we rally around each other.”