ABOUT US
“Talk is Cheap.”
We approach our nonprofit work with many of the same philosophies we bring to our physical challenges. First, we establish an area of focus in which we can have a direct impact. Second, we map out a plan of how the Dawgpatch Bandits can get involved, and create actionable change. Third, and most importantly, we execute the plan established.
In 2018, Drew Harvey and Payton Dwight launched Dawgpatch Bandits with a cross country bicycle tour to raise awareness for the opioid epidemic plaguing this country, and honor two great friends, Mike Semkus and Anthony Grasso, who passed away from opioid overdose’s in 2016 and 2017. In 37 days we bicycled from San Diego, CA to Sag Harbor, NY covering 3,300 miles and raising $6,700 for our cause. After putting every dollar raised into our two founding projects, the Mike Semkus Memorial and Anthony Grasso Memorial, people asked “what’s next?” And from that point on we knew our work had to continue.
TODAY Dawgpatch Bandits Inc. is a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization promoting outdoor recreation and fitness to support mental health. While we have a specific focus on promoting fitness as a tool to support substance abuse and mental health recovery, we maintain the belief that the promotion of outdoor health and fitness for everyone is essential to creating a healthy community.
Why are you called the Dawgpatch Bandits?
While gearing up for our maiden voyage across the United States on bicycles we knew we needed a name to fly upon the banner of our cause. In thinking on what this name should be we reflected on a journey we had completed in 2017 up the California coast. On that trip we were unofficially dubbed the Cycle Bandits because we would arrive in towns late at night, check into a motel and be on the road again at dawn. Ending the trip in area called Dogpatch, San Fransisco we learned Dogpatch was a name reserved for the nameless blue collar - ship building district that was once full of stray dogs before gentrification took hold (something that resonated with our crew). So in 2018 when it was time to get back in the saddle with our sites looking East, the DAWGPATCH BANDITS was officially formed.
What inspired the original Dawgpatch logo?
Thomas Stevens (1854-1935) was the first person to complete a transcontinental bicycle ride across America in 1884. He rode a large-wheeled Ordinary, known as the Penny-Farthing from San Francisco to Boston setting out with only a spare shirt, a raincoat that doubled as a tent and bedroll, and a pocket revolver. He reached Boston after 3,700 miles of wagon trails, railways, canal towpaths and public roads, and over 100 days on the road. He did it to Raise Awareness.
