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When it comes to fundraising on wheels, less can be more, according to Jasper Hoogendam. Seeking sponsors for his part in this year’s trek across North America, the 59-year-old member of in Cobourg, Ontario, tells supporters that he will ride a unicycle for at least 10 percent of his travels.

Jasper Hoogendam will ride part of the Sea to Sea tour on a unicycle.

Hoogendam will be riding in weeks seven and eight of the tour, beginning in Grand Rapids, Mich., and finishing in Montreal, Quebec. Along with his fundraising goal of $5,000, he made a pledge to highlight the link between handicaps and poverty. He describes his unicycle as a bicycle with a one-wheel handicap.

In the eight years since he learned to ride a unicycle, Hoogendam has used his unusual talent in many fundraising events. For seven consecutive years he has completed the Terry Fox run (a Canadian cancer-fighting fundraiser) by unicycle, riding up to 30 kilometers each time. On another occasion he won a fundraising challenge by riding his unicycle back and forth across a school gymnasium floor while carrying a tray of 50 half-full wine glasses.

Commenting on his preparations for his long ride this summer, Hoogendam said, “As I put on kilometers to get ready for Sea to Sea, if nothing else I bring many a smile as I ride by.”

The nine week-long ride starts on June 24 in Los Angeles and ends in New York City on August 24. Riders of the full tour are expected to raise $10,000 each in addition to their own expenses. The overall fundraising goal of $1.5 million will be directed to several Christian agencies that fight poverty.