You can walk a mile in someone’s shoes … or you can ride a half-mile to raise funds to help kids in Nepal and kids in Metro Detroit through the Miles4Miles bike event, part of the second annual Birmingham Bike Festival.

Miles4Miles is a half-mile, parade-style family biking event that will take place in downtown Birmingham on Sunday, Aug. 26 at 1 p.m.

The event raises funds for the 2012 Miles Levin Miracle Fund at Beaumont Children’s Hospital and the Miles Levin Nepal Foundation for Health and Education.

The fundraiser was created by Richard Keidan, M.D., a Beaumont surgical oncologist, in honor of Miles Levin, a Cranbrook student who died from a rare form of cancer shortly after graduating almost five years ago. Miles was an inspirational young man whose CarePages web site chronicling his experience with cancer was followed by thousands of people around the world.

“Miles was an inspiration to me in his fight against cancer,” says Dr. Keidan. “I wanted to create a legacy in his honor. He wrote in his blog that ‘dying is not what scares me. It’s dying having had no impact.’ Through this event, Miles will have a positive impact on the lives of children on another continent and the lives of children here within our community.”

Dr. Keidan spends three months a year in Nepal where he is involved with the work of the Miles Levin Nepal Foundation for Health and Education, a nonprofit organization that builds schools and toilet facilities, and works to improve access to education and health care for children in remote Himalayan villages.

All of the funds raised by Miles4Miles will be split between the Miles Levin Nepal Fund and the Miles Levin Miracle Fund at Beaumont Children’s Hospital. The local fund will address the needs of children fighting cancer or other serious illnesses at Beaumont. Money raised through Miles4Miles will be matched by the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, up to $25,000.

To register for the event, or to donate, go to www.crowdrise.com/miles4miles.

Miles4Miles is a new event at the Birmingham Bike Festival, a free festival featuring amateur and professional road racing, a bike fair and bike safety clinics. For more information, go to www.birminghambikefestival.org.