Okemos woman rides bike to pay forward a Braille education that helped her

MERIDIAN TWP. — Rebekah Darnell is in the home stretch of a virtual round-trip bike ride to Indianapolis that will raise money for Braille education.

The 67-year-old woman was "in" Battle Creek Saturday, riding her Peloton stationary bike on the return leg of a virtual journey through the Braille Across America Virtual Challenge. From her living room in Okemos, she planned to ride for 30 days and wrap up Monday after an approximately 380-mile trip that raised money to help provide Braille resources for children.

Darnell has used Braille to read since she was 6, through graduate school and her career as a now-retired IT professional. She has participated in the Braille Across America Virtual Challenge since its inception in 2021.

"One time, I ended up in Indiana at a restaurant, across from a cornfield," said Darnell, whose husband, Mike, likes to help narrate her virtual surroundings. "That's a lot more fun to say than I just rode 25 or 27 miles in my living room yesterday."

Darnell is a champion for the National Braille Press. This is the organization's third annual run/walk/bike/roll, in which many people pick a marathon distance to cover from March 17 to April 17. The event's end coincides with the start of the Boston Marathon, which several people will run to benefit the organization.

Darnell's virtual trip to Indianapolis is about 100 miles longer than the distance a driver would take on the highway because she mapped it out for bicycling. Darnell covered more than 500 miles for the virtual race in 2021 — more than anyone else in the fundraiser — and she did 33 miles in 2022, when the month-long virtual marathon started three days after her hip replacement surgery.

The organization has raised almost $60,000 of its $75,000 goal this year. Donations will continue to be accepted after April 17.

Darnell has raised close to $2,000, largely from people on her Christmas card list.

"I don't do the fundraising side too well," she said. "But I do like the rest of it."

Raising money for the group is important, since Braille books can be three times the cost of those for sighted individuals. While access to Braille books has greatly improved, they're still not on most bookstore shelves.

"Most people can't afford to pay $50 for one children's book," she pointed out.

She said it's also important to simply talk about what Braille can mean to people who can't see or who struggle to see.

Learning to use Braille helped make graduate school and a long career in IT possible.

"I've always used Braille," Darnell said. "I've used Braille tech. I've used Braille displays, books, you name it."

Braille is not necessary for blind people to work. Darnell knows people who don't use Braille and are still successful, but she said Braille has been key for her. Data shared by the Perkins School for the Blind show Braille is used by more than 90% of people who are blind and both want to and are able to work.

"My goal is to inform the community. The more education we can get out there, the better," she said. "A lot of people just don't know what to say or what to do but the more they hear about blind people and about Braille, the more they'll be able to help."

Darnell said she gives out Braille copies of "Oh The Places You'll Go" to friends who have children, regardless of whether the child has vision problems.

"They may not need it, but it's a great way to talk to your child about Braille," she said.

Darnell pulls out a spiral-bound copy of the Dr. Seuss book she read to her son for years. Her fingers find the Braille letters at her kitchen table, her cats circling underfoot. She reads through the dedication page to a pair of Boston Marathon runners who have supported the National Braille Press.

Then she dives right into the pages. She knows the classic pretty much by heart, like many parents who had a favorite book they read to a child. Her fingers still take in the Braille characters as she reads aloud the book about the potential of a child.

The Braille book has a transparent sheet of plastic between each page, allowing readers with sight, like Darnell's son and husband, to see the pictures. Other types have stickers with raised Braille placed on children's board books.

"I'm always looking for opportunities to go into schools and read so students can know what Braille is like," Darnell said.

COVID-19 shut down some of those opportunities for her, so finding the virtual race became another way to reach out to her community.

"People all across the country are signing up to do this," Darnell said, "and this is a good cause."

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Okemos woman racks up hundreds of miles biking for Braille education