DENVER -- In June, Rockies broadcaster Jerry Schemmel was simply happy to make it through the searing heat of California's desert and the constant rain that fell through Appalachia while he and triathlete Brad Cooper completed the cross-country Race Across America on their bicycles.
Now Schemmel is thankful for something grander than pride in completing the grueling race. He and Cooper were racing as Team Enduring Hope -- a project to raise funds toward the building of an orphanage outside of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. The goal was for donations connected to the racing effort to cover half the $100,000 needed to complete the project.