Paul Stugart begins tomorrow a three-day ordeal to raise money for local children who have suffered from abuse or neglect. Mr. Stugart, 37, co-owner with his wife, Lisa, of VYGOR Fitness and Nutrition, a health club in Indiana Township, has raised $15,000 in pledges for Family Resources, a Pittsburgh-based charity that provides a variety of services to prevent child abuse and to heal the victims of abuse.

The pledge makers are sponsoring Mr. Stugart in a 250-mile race that will involve mountain biking, trail running, kayaking, river swimming and rappelling.

The Endorphin Fix, sponsored by Odyssey Adventure Resources, will take place mostly in the New River Gorge in south-central West Virginia. Once described as "the toughest two-day race in the country," the Endorphin Fix this year will go for three days.

"You can sleep if you want to, but it adds to your time," Mr. Stugart said. Like most of the other racers, he plans to drive on, day and night, until he completes the course.

"It's all about the kids," he said. "They're who I'll be thinking about when I'm swimming down a river that's 50 degrees, when I haven't slept in over 40 hours, and I'm not even halfway through the race."

To prepare for the ordeal, Mr. Stugart has been working out a lot, and practicing sleep deprivation. As a business owner and a parent of two small children, he doesn't have much time to work out in the day, so he does his running and biking and swimming mostly late at night after the children have gone to bed, or early in the morning before they get up.

"It's an extraordinary effort," said Andrea Fischoff, director of development of Family Resources, which was formed in 1986 when the Pittsburgh Association for the Improvement of the Poor and the Child Abuse Prevention Center merged. "He really cares about the kids. We're really thrilled that he has made us his cause."

Mr. Stugart isn't just raising money for Family Resources, he's raising awareness of a problem few Americans realize is as serious as it is, Ms. Fischoff said.

"In Allegheny County, there are 8,325 children in the child welfare system who have been abused, and those are just the ones we know about, the tip of the iceberg," she said.

How large might that iceberg be? According to federal statistics, one girl in five and one boy in seven will be sexually abused by a family member by the time he or she is 18, Ms. Fischoff said. This doesn't count sexual abuse by strangers, or other forms of child abuse, she said.

Among the services provided by Family Resources are a 15-week course that teaches parents and children how to develop healthy, non-abusive relationships; parent support groups, and support for families who have a child who has a severe emotional disturbance.

Family Resources also operates the Family Retreat Center in Mars, where abused children can find a year-round haven on a 260-acre campus that features playgrounds, athletic fields, hiking trails and a lake.

Mr. Stugart said he learned about Family Resources from a client of his fitness business, insurance executive Bill Simpson, who serves on the board of Family Resources.

"I've donated small amounts every year," he said. "This year I wanted to do more."

If you want to join Mr. Stugart in helping Family Resources, visit its Web site at www.familyresourcesofpa.org, or call 412-363-1702.