I love it when I hear about motorcycle events taking place for charity. On March 4, as part of the first annual Harley-Davidson Daytona Women’s Day Ride, over $60,000 was raised to help send children to the MDA (muscular dystrophy association) summer camp. Read the rest of the details below.

Bikes In The Fast Lane has an interesting post that reminds us that bikers do a lot of good in this world.  The site owner brought up Riders For Health, the motorcycle charity organization that was founded in the 80s to provide motorcycles to parts of Africa.  Why?  Because a lot of these areas are so remote that it’s hard to get medical attention into these areas.  Providing motorcycles to these areas allows health care for those who otherwise would never be treated.

GP racing legend Randy Mamola was one of the original founders of this charity organization, and today many celebrities also take part.  Riders was able to hold it’s first Riders for Health day in 2007 at the US GP at Laguna Seca, and the charity organization was also featured as one of the 3 charities supported through the TV bike adventure of Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor, Long Way Down.

How can you participate?  There are a ton of ways to donate to the organization via monetary donations, shopping at their online stores, and even taking part in auctions to raise money.  You can also participate in fundraisers and other events.  For more information please check out the Riders For Health website and especially the support us section.

I think this is a great charity developed by motorcycle riders and maintained by motorcyclists.  It just proves we’re not all hellions out there tearing up the world 2 wheels at a time.

For the last 27 years in Anderson, South Carolina motorcycles have lined the Clemson Boulevard for the Jack Hurley Anderson Toy Parade the weekend after Thanksgiving. I’ve seen this event many times, and I had hoped to be able to participate this year, but unfortunately we couldn’t. I’m hoping to be able to ride in this parade next year.

This year the weather was horrible, but quite a few bikes still found their way riding down main street in the rain to raise money and toy donations for the Brighter Christmas Fund. I was happy to read that even though this year’s parade didn’t contain as many bikes because of the weather, they were still able to raise $12,000 towards the cause. That’s $1,000 more than they raised last year. The toys are donated to the Department of Social Services in Anderson, and 1,100 children who wouldn’t have a Christmas will receive gifts this year.

Next time hubby starts going on and on about how bad he wants something like one of these car covers for Christmas I’m going to remind him of all the kids out there that don’t get a single gift. Instead of spending $150 on a car cover that he’ll never use, think of all those toys we could buy to make those children have a Merry Christmas.