Long before "Good Morning America" named Asheville one of the 10 most
beautiful places in the nation, motorcyclists were enjoying the area's
scenic rides. The Asheville Ride for Kids®, which travels the Blue Ridge
Parkway on its way to Lake Lure, is one of the best. This year's event
raised $113,815 for the PBTF on Aug. 28.
The crowd of 550
gathered on a sunny, breezy day at Biltmore Square Mall to ride for
brain tumor survivors Aaron, Sarah, Elijah, Hannah, Brady, Julia, Seth,
Matthew, and Travis.
Many of these young people have been
treated by Dr. Gerald Grant, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Duke University
Children's Hospital. "This foundation has just been tremendous," he
told the fundraisers during the post-ride program. "And it's not only in
research, it's all the work in quality of life and everything we can do
to get these kids happy and enjoying day-to-day life, because that's
what they really care about."
Ride for Kids® fundraisers provide
the seed money to make research and family support possible. The top
contributors in Asheville this year were:
- Individual: Ferguson Family Foundation, $30,000
- Club/Chapter: Members of GWRRA NC-M2, $41,691
- Motorcycle Business: Customers of MR Motorcycle, $20,001
Donated drawing prizes went to Renae Turner (Honda motorcycle); Evan
Parton (AGV helmet); Larry Craig (Dunlop tire); Becky Lees (Tourmaster
luggage); and Mike Coral (Cardo Systems headset).
The Asheville
Ride for Kids® was organized by a dedicated volunteer task force, led by
Pat Harvey, Lynn Brooks and Bruce Lobach. Mark your calendar now for
the next ride on Aug. 26, 2012.
Each state requires PBTF to approve your fundraiser, so contact us early in your planning process. The first step is to complete our fundraising application.
