Bangor, Maine Man To Flip Big Tire To Raise $50K For Veterans

Bangor's Mike Laliberte has spent over a decade raising money for Maine Veterans.

It started as a personal challenge when someone told Laliberte, who is an amputee, that he couldn't possibly achieve the goal of flipping a 400 lbs tire a mile down "with his messed up leg", but it has turned into so much more.

Laliberte officially started his "Tire Flip" challenges in 2015, after losing his leg in a hunting accident. He began actively fundraising in 2021, and to date, he has made it his goal not only to move that big tire a mile in under 4 hours, with only one leg, but he has also raised $100,416 along the way.

The money has been donated to the Maine Veterans Project in honor of Laliberte's father, a retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient.

Last year, Laliberte's fundraising goal was just over $32,000.

This year, he turns 50 years old and has decided to mark the occasion by upping his fundraising goal to $50,000.

At last check, he was at just under $15,000. He's set up a Facebook Event Page where people can get more information or make donations. That page will remain active until July 4th.

The flip itself will take place this coming Saturday, June 20th. He will start at 9 AM, from his garage at 22 Maple Street in Bangor, and flip the tire down the street and back again, finishing where he started. His hope is to finish in under 2 hours and 39 minutes.

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Laliberte usually starts training for this event in January, spending 6 months getting ready for the big day.

Why does Laliberte continue to put himself and his body through the rigors of such a challenge, year after year?

"The challenge of trying to better my time and fundraising goals is what keeps me going. Trying to do better than the year before.

Funny Niko, my youngest son, asked how many miles I had on the tire, so I looked back in my training log, and by the time of the challenge, I would have put over 10 miles on it, all end over end."

Laliberte says he will also be taking donations, in person, on the day of the event, if anyone would like to stop by to cheer him on.