By TRACY MIGUEL, Staff Writer
April 10, 2004

There are different ways to enjoy spring break.

For volunteers of Friends Together, spring break is a time to get on their bikes and cycle through Florida.

Dedicated participants spend their break cycling 500 miles in five days in an effort to raise money for Friends Together, a state organization which helps children with HIV and AIDS to attend camps.

Nonprofessional cyclists started in Tallahassee on Monday morning and rode about 100 miles a day, until arriving in Naples on Friday around 3:30 p.m. at the entrance of Laurel Oak Elementary School, off Immokalee Road.

Of the 10 participants, Gulf Coast High geometry teacher Thomas Croce, his brother, Joe, from New York, and Florida Southern College student Katie Peters were the only ones who finished the 500 miles.

Students and volunteers cheered them the entire way and rode a couple of miles with them as well.

"There is so much that we can do. For me it is just a way to feel that we are in action," Thomas Croce said.

This year participants raised $18,000.

Like Gulf Coast's Croce, many people become involved because they know someone who has or has had AIDS or is HIV positive, he said.

"I did it as a dedication for my uncle, who died from AIDS," Peters said.

Croce has been involved in AIDS fund-raising rides since 1996, but, after learning that almost 50 percent of the money raised would go to the race expenses, he decided to create a new ride, the Friends Together AIDS Ride.

Three years ago the program was created by Croce with the help of Friends Together organization founder and director Cathy Robinson.

"Tom came to me and said that he wanted to do something where all the money raised would go to the people," Robinson said.

One hundred percent of the money raised goes toward AIDS and HIV programs by Friends Together, Croce said.

Gulf Coast students raised about $1,500.

"Kids can see that they can make a difference with pennies, nickels and quarters," Croce said.

The bike riders paid all their own expenses, so that all the money raised this past week will pay for a camp of about 110 participants, Robinson said.

For three days children and adults in the camps learn information about AIDS and participate in activities such as kayaking and mountain climbing, said Gulf Coast High senior, camp volunteer Manny Robles, 17.

What seems to have become a tradition is Croce's funky hairstyle, which he sports every year.

Last year his students dyed his hair and cut it in geometric shapes; this year he made a deal with his third block freshmen geometry class to let them dye his hair hot pink if they raised $250. They raised $275 and dyed their teacher's hair before the race.

"For him to support this cause shows how much appreciation he has and he inspires students," Gulf Coast High sophomore Lindsey MacGregor said.

Friends Together has scheduled six camps this year. Four camps remain. The next camp is scheduled for Mother's Day weekend

The next fund-raiser will be climbing Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, in Northeast Tanzania, Robinson said.

"A lot of people think that AIDS is handled, but the numbers are going up," Croce said. "As a teacher I can talk about statistics to students."

For more information, log on to http://friendstogether.org.

David Ahntholz/Staff

Tom Croce, center, his congratulated by friends John Myles, left, and Rick Summer outside Laurel Oak Elementary School after he finished a 500-mile, five-day bike ride Friday afternoon. Croce, a math teacher at Gulf Coast High School, dyed his hair pink after challenging a freshman geometry class to raise $250 for the ride. The fund-raising ride benefits Friends Together, which helps kids with HIV/AIDS attend camp. Croce’s brother, Joe, and Katie Peters, a student at Florida Southern College, also pedaled the entire 500 miles, and were joined by additional riders on the final day.

David Ahntholz/Staff

Joe Croce, from right, Tom Croce, center, Katie Peters and the rest of the riders pedal down Immokalee Road toward the finish of their 500-mile, five-day journey Friday afternoon. The fund-raising ride benefits Friends Together, which helps kids with HIV/AIDS attend camp. Tom, who is a math teacher at Gulf Coast High School, his brother, Tom, and Katie Peters pedaled the entire 500 miles. Others in the group pedaled part of the distance.