$85,000 raised in Richmond
Virginia motorcyclists rode together in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's (PBTF) fourth annual Richmond Ride for Kids® event on June 4 to raise more than $85,000 for research and family support programs.
Spirits were high among the 325 participants as they left Brook Hollow Shopping Center in Glen Allen under sunny skies. The police-escorted ride took them through the rolling countryside and horse farms north of Richmond on its way to Mechanicsville.
Tents were set up on a beautifully manicured lawn of the Richmond Times-Dispatch for the Celebration of Life, which featured three local pediatric brain tumor survivors. The stars of the day were Denise, 12, Kevin, 14, and 18-year-old PBTF scholarship recipient Tiffany. Her mom, Peggy, thanked the crowd for their support. "During our first Ride for Kids event, I looked around and saw all these smiling faces and I knew we were in the right place," she said. "You may not know us personally, but you do know us.”
The medical community was represented by Virginia Commonwealth University's Dr. Ted Chung, a radiation oncologist, and Dr. William Broaddus, a neurosurgeon. Bob Crouch with the governor's office proclaimed June 4 as Ride for Kids® Day in Virginia.
The total raised at the Richmond event was $85,380. The top individual fundraisers were Mike and Kristi Seibert of Springfield, Va., who brought $14,795. The top club was the Richmond HRCA chapter with $27,056, while the customers of Cycle Connection of Midlothian, Va., donated $22,694 to make it the top motorcycle business. The grand prize, a brand-new Honda motorcycle, went to Pete Nelson of Bumpass, Va.
Heartfelt thanks go to Richmond's task force leaders, Kerry Abrams and Mike Seibert, visitation co-leaders Dan Solomon and Linda Carr, and their hardworking volunteer task force and day-of-event volunteers, for hosting a superb event.
