A tour de force of compassion

YAKIMA, Wash. — Before he decided to take on one of the world's most demanding endurance races, Eric Bruntjen had never met Evan Mettie.

Mike Gibbons has never met either of them. But now he's on board. So are the people he works with.

That says something about how both the trying circumstances of Mettie, a profoundly injured Iraq war veteran, and Bruntjen's efforts to improve Mettie's quality of life have affected people throughout the Valley and beyond.

Gibbons has been following in the Herald-Republic how Bruntjen, 38, of Yakima, is riding the 2,780-mile Tour Divide mountain bike race to raise money to buy Mettie an all-terrain wheelchair.

Such a specialized wheelchair costs more than $10,000, and Bruntjen has been accepting donations for every mile he completes.

"I got to thinking about that," said Gibbons, himself the father of a National Guardsman on his third tour in Iraq. "I thought, what a great opportunity to step up and support our people in uniform."

So he sent an e-mail to each of his 43 co-workers in three Yakima Valley offices of Northwest Farm Credit Services, suggesting that if each was willing to pledge one cent per mile, that would add up to $1,200 toward Mettie's wheelchair.

Response was so fast among his co-workers that within half a day, their pledges brought them nearly halfway to the goal Gibbons suggested.

"So far I've gotten nothing but positive responses. It's pretty much all, 'Sure, sign me up.' 'I'm in, let me know where and how much to send,'" Gibbons said, adding he expected most employees "will step up to the plate."

One response that touched Gibbons came from a woman in the company's Sunnyside office named Michele Smith. She wrote about how one of her best friends had been married to a Marine staff sergeant from Prosser, Marvin Best, who was killed by a land mine five years ago in Iraq. Smith thanked Gibbons for reaching out for donations, adding, "Definitely, count me in. 100 percent."

"I knew immediately we're being a part of this," said Smith, whose husband, Chad, had been one of Marvin Best's closest buddies. "When I got home, I told (Chad) about it, and he said, 'Do it. That's great.' We need to support our troops."

The news got even better on Wednesday. When Gibbons described the employees' donation plan to the Northwest Farm Credit Services corporate headquarters in Spokane, upper management told him the company would match whatever donations the employees raise.

Early this week, Bruntjen's supporters received a pledge from an old friend of his in California, someone he hadn't spoken with in more than 10 years but who had read about Bruntjen's Tour Divide ride for Evan Mettie on Facebook.

The word is getting out there, and Eric Bruntjen's ride for Evan has only just begun.

Want to make a pledge?

• To pledge to Eric Bruntjen's Tour Divide effort, with proceeds going to purchase an all-terrain wheelchair for injured Iraq war veteran Evan Mettie, send an e-mail to tourdechair@gmail.com with your contact information and pledge amount. Checks to "Evan Mettie Donation" can be submitted at any U.S. Bank.

• For the latest online updates on Bruntjen's Tour Divide progress, check in on Scott Sandsberry's "Out There" outdoors blog (sportsyakima.com/out-there/).

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