Most fathers carry photos of their own children, but not El Dorado Hills resident John Depew.

He carries around a picture of Santos, a 6-year-old boy he met while cycling for Team Will (team-will.org), an organization that hosts long-distance rides in order to raise funds to support children with cancer and their families. Santos passed away last May, yet Depew continues to carry the boy’s photo on all his rides, as a poignant reminder of the importance of his mission.

As a team leader, Depew’s primary task is to help new members prepare and train for Team Will’s biennial “Go the Distance” cross-country ride, in which cyclists stop at hospitals along the way, meeting kids and helping raise awareness about childhood cancer. Although Depew originally feared the visits would prove depressing, he was surprised to find most of the children upbeat and excited to meet the cyclists. “You feel like the kids cheered you up more than you cheered them up,” Depew says. And as a father of two boys, hearing their stories has only made Depew treasure the time spent with loved ones even more. “It makes you realize how fragile life can be,” he says.

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