Come November 13, some 500 cyclists will take to the streets, traversing the 165 miles from Miami to Key West in the span of two days in the annual SMART Ride, raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS services and care. Closer to home, on October 7, Lakewood Ranch Polo Grill and Bar will be hosting the first fundraiser for Sarasota’s own Team Wojo, looking to raise the necessary entry fees for its riders to participate in this yearly event and lend their support. With local celebrity bartenders such as the uproarious Beneva Fruitville, Channel 7’s Alix Redmond and Nicole Pepe-Dorn from Treat Boutique serving up special-made SMART Ride Concoctions, all tips on food and drink from 6pm-9pm will be donated to the team.

“I’ve done fundraisers of all sorts, I sit on boards of HIV organization – I’ve done a lot – and nothing impacts me like the SMART Ride,” said Valerie Wojciechowicz, the leader of Team Wojo, regular participant and who has been living with HIV for 30 years. “Amazing amounts of effort go into this and it’s all volunteer and every single penny goes to direct services for people with HIV.” In addition, the money all stays within South Florida, according to Wojciechowicz, and the state currently leads in new diagnoses of HIV and AIDS. Toward this charitable end, each participating rider must present a $1,250 entry fee, which combined will comprise a bulk of the funds raised and some of which Team Wojo’s 13 riders hope to collect at this opening fundraiser at Polo Grill.

The community has already rallied some, said Wojciechowicz, with her mother driving down every year to work on the team’s crew, her doctor joining the team as a rider and her employer, Community Aids Network, donating funds and team jerseys. With door prizes, a silent auction and the aforementioned slate of stars tending bar, she hopes the community at large will come out to show what support they can.

“It’s amazing,” said Wojciechowicz of the reaction she sees from communities along the ride. “It’s certainly not always easy to be out in the open, but because I’m in the open I get so much support. It’s humbling.”

The fundraiser for Team Wojo will take place on Oct. 7 at the Polo Grill and Bar in Lakewood Ranch, where, from 6pm-9pm, all tips on food and drink count as donations to the team.