Six members of NJIT’s Pi Kappa Phi fraternity — Damian “DJ” Buccine Jr., Jacob Immitt, Zakaria Abazine, Jacob Vasquez, Connor Mackersie and Antonio Marques — completed Gear Up New York this summer as part of a team that raised more than $170,000 for The Ability Experience.
The journey took participants across New York while combining long days on bicycles with Friendship Visits at organizations serving people with disabilities. For the NJIT group, it continued a Beta Alpha chapter tradition of participating in The Ability Experience’s service programs that dates back more than two decades.
Buccine, an NJIT architecture alumnus, personally raised more than $4,500. Before the trip, he described the ride as a chance to support a cause that had taken on additional meaning after a friend recently began requiring specialized care.
“That was a driving factor,” Buccine said. “Alongside some other NJIT current students who were looking to do this, we all came together and wanted to do it. Good company on this trip for a good cause.”
After completing the journey, Buccine said the experience gave him much more than he had expected.
“I went in with mixed expectations as to how I would attack the challenge and grow as an individual,” he said. “The physical difficulty of extreme extended hours enduring various weather conditions was truly humbling.”
Service beyond the cycle
The Ability Experience traces its roots to 1977, when Pi Kappa Phi established PUSH America as its national service project supporting people with disabilities. A decade later, a cross-country cycling effort helped inspire the first official Journey of Hope in 1988, creating a model that combined physical challenge with fundraising, awareness and Friendship Visits.
That model later expanded through programs such as Gear Up Florida, which began in 1997, and the more recent Gear Up New York.
William Hall ’21, a Beta Alpha alumnus who participated in Gear Up Florida in 2023, said the programs have evolved over time, but the purpose has remained consistent.
“While the routes have evolved, the purpose remains rooted in the same vision that started with PUSH America nearly 50 years ago,” Hall said. “These programs combine service, brotherhood and personal growth through a shared challenge.”
The cycling really becomes secondary
David White ’85 has experienced that mission firsthand. A longtime Beta Alpha alumnus who participated in Gear Up Florida in 2003, 2021 and 2022, White said the cycling programs also create opportunities for fraternity members to form relationships with people with disabilities along the way.
The Friendship Visits are central to that experience. Riders stop at organizations serving people with disabilities, spend time with participants and, in many cases, help provide financial support to those organizations.
White said those interactions ultimately become more important than the physical challenge.
“The cycling really becomes secondary to why you’re doing it in the Friendship Visits,” he said.
That was something Buccine came to understand during Gear Up New York.
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His favorite Friendship Visit took place at Syracuse University, where the team met students and alumni connected to an educational inclusion program. Buccine said the group participated in a question-and-answer panel before spending additional time with those involved in the program.
One of the people he met was Harry Dydo, whom Buccine described as a successful graduate who had worked with the Syracuse basketball program as an undergraduate and later continued pursuing opportunities in professional sports.
“My number one visit was to Syracuse University,” Buccine said. “They gave us a presentation and brought in alumni and current students. It ran as a panel for general questioning, and we got to hang out with the students and alumni afterwards.”
The visit gave Buccine a more personal view of a mission he and his fraternity brothers had already supported through service activities during their time at NJIT.
A challenge shared by six NJIT brothers
The physical side of Gear Up New York was still significant. Before leaving, he had described himself as a year-round athlete who played baseball, but he also acknowledged that cycling required a different kind of preparation.
Afterward, it was the mental challenge that stood out.
“The mental toughness required, waking up at 5:30 every day and averaging around six hours a day of ride time, was tough,” Buccine said.
He was also surprised by how quickly relationships developed among participants.
“I did not anticipate the strength of new relationships to be made along the way in such a short time,” he said. “I entered the trip with strangers and left with new lifelong friends.”
That connection had started before the group left. Buccine said the six NJIT participants communicated regularly during their preparation and held one another accountable while training.
“We talk every single day. We hold each other accountable,” he said before the trip. “It’s nice to have other people who share the same values.”
Immitt entered Gear Up New York with a similar interest in challenging himself while contributing to the organization’s mission.
“I was motivated because I wanted to challenge myself to complete something out of my normal that has a lasting impact,” Immitt said. “The Ability Experience reminds me that seeing people for their abilities is something that we all should carry in our everyday lives.”
Marques became interested after hearing about the experiences of other Pi Kappa Phi brothers who had previously participated.
“The mission of The Ability Experience is great because it allows me to develop myself as a person and a leader while giving back and supporting people who I can have a direct impact on,” Marques said.
For Marques, the Friendship Visits were an important part of that expectation.
“I’m looking forward to meeting people with different perspectives and being able to have a personal impact on their lives,” he said before the trip.
A Beta Alpha tradition
The 2026 group joined a history of NJIT Pi Kappa Phi members participating in The Ability Experience programs.
Benjamin Lerch ’04, ’06 completed Journey of Hope in 2001, followed by White’s first Gear Up Florida ride in 2003. Since then, Beta Alpha members have participated in Journey of Hope, Gear Up Florida, Build America and Gear Up New York.
Several have participated more than once. Derek Torres ’16 completed Journey of Hope in 2014 and Build America in 2016, while Brandon Sorensen participated in Gear Up Florida in 2007 and again in 2023. White returned to Gear Up Florida twice after his first ride, and Abazine participated in Gear Up New York in 2025 before returning with the NJIT group in 2026.
White said his own first experience at age 42 changed the way he viewed service and the challenges faced by others.
“It was life altering for me,” he said. “I just can’t imagine being 18 to 22 years old and having the opportunity to do this.”
Buccine now has his own perspective on that transformation.
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Before leaving, he believed the ride would test his physical and mental limits while giving him a chance to support others. After completing it, he said the relationships formed with both the communities they visited and the people traveling alongside him became an equally important part of the experience.
“On the other side of the trip I have a new understanding of emotional connections with a new community,” Buccine said. “The team that entered the weeklong journey and our support of each other is fit to last a lifetime, and the connection we worked on and created is irreplaceable.”
For Buccine, that became one of the clearest lessons from Gear Up New York: service was not a one-way exchange.
“It was nice that working outwardly to give to the community — although not expected — was reciprocal in a way,” he said. “I gained so much from this experience.”
