In the wake of the recent passing of their friend and teammate, Bailey Mallard, the Draper Park Mountain Bike Team sought to process their loss and find a way to connect with her memory. The four coaches for the team decided to purchase a memorial bench where Bailey’s friends and family could go to remember her. Students from the mountain biking teams at Draper Park Middle School and Corner Canyon High School took part in a fundraising car wash to purchase the bench. The car wash was met with an outpouring of community support.

“The mountain biking community in this area is more than a community, it’s a family,” Draper Park Mountain Bike Team coach Erin Longacre said. “When family experiences hard times and struggles, people show up and get to work to comfort, console, uplift and show their love in any way they can.” 

Bailey, age 12, was entering 7th grade at Draper Park Middle School. She enjoyed swimming, basketball and theater in addition to being an avid cyclist. The news of her untimely passing in June inspired an immediate outreach to her teammates from other local mountain biking teams.

“One morning, before practice, Alta High School’s mountain biking team chalked our parking lot where we meet before we ride,” Longacre said. “They drew hearts, quotes and pictures letting us know that they were thinking of us. It was a sight to see and many of us were in tears.” She added that Chain Lynx, another middle school mountain biking team, surprised the Draper Park team with freezer pops and a poster expressing their love and support.

Approximately 100 Draper Park Middle School students are on the mountain biking team which has four coaches. Coach Ashley Burr explained, “Our collective focus was on the team. They had just lost a teammate and friend.” 

Draper Park Middle School’s counselors held special counseling sessions for the students, but the coaches wanted to do something more. 

“One day, after visiting the Mallard family, we were thinking of ways to honor Bailey,” Longacre said. “Together we thought that a bench somewhere in the mountains where we ride as a team would be an appropriate way to remember her.”  The bench will provide Bailey’s family and friends with a place to sit and reminisce about her. 

Instead of setting up a GoFundMe to raise the $2,300 needed to purchase the bench, the coaches decided to get the team involved. “After a tragedy, everybody wants to do something,” Burr said. “We thought, ‘Let’s take this energy and harness it.’” 

The idea for a car wash fundraiser was quickly agreed upon and organized. On July 14, over 75 volunteers, including student athletes from Draper Park Middle School and Corner Canyon High School as well as parents and coaches, washed cars in the hot July sun in the middle school parking lot for over two hours. 

“We had over 100 cars,” Burr said. They had to turn cars away towards the end of the event, but people kept coming and making donations. The volunteers quickly exceeded their fundraising goal.

“We never had a price per car, if you will,” Longacre said. “It was up to the driver to decide how much they would donate. I truly believe everyone who came out didn’t care if all the dirt and grime wasn’t washed away. They enjoyed seeing the kids have fun, think outside of themselves and serve a family we love and care for so much.” 

“The kids were so proud of themselves,” Burr added. “It turned out to be fun. Everybody turned up, the whole community turned up.” 

Longacre summed up her feelings about the event. “It was moving and something we will all remember for a long time,” she said. “Through this experience, our mountain biking team discovered that our extended team is made up of many members of the community-- some who ride alongside of us and others who support us even if they’re not on a bike.”