The weather was hot but the mood was festive as Chicagoland area riders gathered at the Allstate campus in South Barrington, Ill., for the 18th annual Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Ride for Kids® on July 16.
More than 2,300 participants followed a police escort through the countryside west of Chicago, crossing the Fox River twice before looping back for the touching Celebration of Life program.
Sixteen local pediatric brain tumor survivors shared their stories from the stage, including two PBTF scholarship recipients. Stephanie, 18, wowed the crowd with her vocal rendition of "Someone to Lean On." The group also heard from Dr. Stewart Goldman of Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, who told them how critical their donations are for research.
The crowd roared when they heard that those donations totaled $366,404, one of the highest numbers ever recorded for a Ride for Kids® event. The top individual fundraisers were Stacia and Steven Skinner of Mt. Prospect, Ill., who raised $24,250. Members of the top club, GWRRA IL Chapter G2, turned in $98,855. The customers of Nielsen Enterprises of Lake Villa, Ill., made it the top motorcycle business with $114,961 in donations, more than ever before for this event. The grand prize, a brand-new Honda motorcycle, went to Larry Knight of Arlington Heights, Ill.
Very special thanks went to Chicagoland's volunteer task force leaders, Larry Dubisz and Sandy Berens, visitation leader Rick Montgomery, task force members and day-of-event volunteers, for putting together a fantastic event.
