Columbus State University News
Not Your Average Mail Run: Miracle Riders’ cross-country trek blazes trail for nursing education
May 3, 2025
Continuing their support of a $1 million fundraising pledge to enhance pediatric nursing education programs at Columbus State University, the Miracle Riders left Frank Brown Hall on Friday, May 2, for their 21-day, 9,500-mile cross-country motorcycle ride.
The ride raises awareness and additional funds for a new School of Nursing neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) simulation lab. Thirteen riders plus Scott Ressmeyer, who founded the Miracle Riders organization, will travel through 34 states, stopping in 32 cities and towns to deliver postcards with personal greetings from family and friends back in Columbus. The ride harkens to the days of the iconic Old West-era Pony Express, which between 1860 and 1961 delivered mail on horseback. Recipients of letters to be delivered by the Miracle Riders were selected from more than 40 submissions to the organization’s website earlier this year.
“This is the greatest group of men I have ever had the opportunity to spend time with.
For Columbus State to be affiliated with them is our honor and our privilege,” President
Stuart Rayfield said at a March 26 event when the Miracle Riders announced their route.
“I want to thank these guys; their heart for Columbus and every child in our community
means everything to Columbus State. We are the lucky beneficiaries of their hard work
and devotion.”
The Miracle Riders departed on Friday, May 2, from the university's Frank Brown Hall on its Uptown Columbus RiverPark Campus.
The riders have supported the Columbus State School of Nursing since 2021, when they established a multi-year fundraising goal of $1 million to enhance its pediatric nursing program. To date, generous individual donors and
corporate sponsors have contributed $600,000 toward that goal through three separate
rides. Their first ride in 2022 on the university’s behalf funded life-like robotic
mannequins, technology and other needs to create the school’s first-ever simulation lab, focused on pediatric health. Funds raised in 2023 provided similar technology, establishing the school’s mother-baby simulation lab (pictured). The 2024 ride provided initial funding for a new NICU simulation lab.
The School of Nursing’s third lab is scheduled to open this fall alongside the current two in Frank Brown Hall, where it’s based. Since last year, nursing leadership and faculty have been working on identifying equipment, technology and furnishings needs for the NICU sim lab and developing a training curriculum. Dr. David Levine of Neonatology Associates of Columbus, a long-time supporter of the Miracle Ride, has guided the planning and development process.
The new lab will provide opportunities for student nurses, area NICU nurses and other local healthcare providers to train together in the care of premature infants. A premature baby mannequin from Laerdal, a world leader in medical simulation technology and education, will be used in the lab. The infant mannequin’s name is Paul, derived from the Latin word for “little one.”
Equipment will also include a simulation radiant warmer bed designed to keep the infant’s temperature regulated, routine and emergency equipment scaled to the premature infant, and “skill trainers” scaled to the premature infant for practice in procedures such as inserting intravenous needles in scalp veins and completing heel sticks for lab blood draws.
For more information or to support the Miracle Riders financially, visit rideformiracles.com. Find daily updates from the road on the Miracle Riders’ Facebook and Instagram accounts.
ABOUT THE MIRACLE RIDE
The Miracle Riders began in 2009 when Ressmeyer set out alone on a ride through the 48 contiguous states to celebrate his 50th birthday and raise funds for the Children’s Hospital at Midtown Medical Center in Columbus. Over the next six years, 29 motorcyclists joined the ride, raising $1.2 million for the hospital’s pediatric services.
After meeting their initial goal, the riders broadened their fundraising efforts to include other local services for children. In 2015, they established the Miracle Ride Fund in the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley. Since that inaugural ride in 2009, generous individual donors and corporate sponsors have gifted more than $2.8 million to support services for children.
The riders pay all their own expenses on their annual cross-country trips. Collectively, they have spent more than $825,000 of their own money to participate in the rides.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF NURSING
Based in Columbus State University’s College of Education & Health Professions, the School of Nursing offers undergraduate and graduate nursing programs, including a BSN program; an RN-BSN program with on-campus and online options; an on-campus and online MSN program with Nurse Educator, Nurse Informaticist or Nurse Leader tracks; and an FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner) MSN program with both on-campus and online options. With more than 10 faculty members, students enjoy a 15-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.
The School of Nursing has full approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and many of its programs are ranked regionally and nationally for their affordability and academic rigor.
Main image: Miracle Riders founder Scott Ressmeyer prepares to lead this year's “Pony Express Ride” riders out of Uptown Columbus.
Media contacts:
Columbus State University: Michael Tullier, APR, Executive Director of Strategic Communication + Marketing, 706.507.8729,
mtullier@columbusstate.edu
Miracle Riders: Marion Scott, marion.scott120@gmail.com
