This Christmas season has been particularly different for me. I've been in bike clubs that had charity drives in the past but had not yet participated in one. I usually give money and that's the end of it. This year a friend called and asked me to set up a Poker Run for this charity drive because the two individuals who usually do this abruptly quit.
Poker runs are routed runs with four to six stops where businesses are picked where people can get a honeybun in the morning followed by toy stores and of course a restaurant. At each stop they collect a bean i.e.; lima, pinto etc. When they get back to the Rally point they give me their beans and they get a five card poker hand and there's a plaque for best and worst hand. Anyway I've done this more than a few times and it's been my way of contributing.
Now it's just three weeks before the Rally and I've got the poker run finished and we all meet, three of us. It came as a surprise to me that there were no items collected for auctions. At each charity drive people collect items from bike shops, restaurants or anywhere a gift certificate can be had. But this run had nothing. And I had no experience at doing this whatsoever.
Charity letters with tax numbers were quickly printed and I take off everyday "begging" as it were. The Rally was for the mentally disabled children at the San Antonio State School. I found out a couple of days later that these children were severely mentally disabled and many get no visits from families, in short, they have been abandoned to the state.
At first I went collecting on my bike but soon learned I couldn't carry five helmets and twelve pairs of gloves easily so I took the pickup. It was amazing. I got tickets to dance halls, all kinds of gear from bike shops, and gift certificates from restaurants and stores all over town. The only drawback to this charity is that only family members can visit because most of the kids don't know what’s going on and some get violent under stress but we raised over $18,000 to provide gifts for them.
In the second photo I’d like to give credit to the bike club The Regulators, each member is active law enforcement and the help with the multitude of bikes on the run and security for all. They are great brothers. In ending this I'm hooking up with a few other runs throughout this year I found it to be very satisfying.
Biker Bob
Poker runs are routed runs with four to six stops where businesses are picked where people can get a honeybun in the morning followed by toy stores and of course a restaurant. At each stop they collect a bean i.e.; lima, pinto etc. When they get back to the Rally point they give me their beans and they get a five card poker hand and there's a plaque for best and worst hand. Anyway I've done this more than a few times and it's been my way of contributing.
Now it's just three weeks before the Rally and I've got the poker run finished and we all meet, three of us. It came as a surprise to me that there were no items collected for auctions. At each charity drive people collect items from bike shops, restaurants or anywhere a gift certificate can be had. But this run had nothing. And I had no experience at doing this whatsoever.
Charity letters with tax numbers were quickly printed and I take off everyday "begging" as it were. The Rally was for the mentally disabled children at the San Antonio State School. I found out a couple of days later that these children were severely mentally disabled and many get no visits from families, in short, they have been abandoned to the state.
At first I went collecting on my bike but soon learned I couldn't carry five helmets and twelve pairs of gloves easily so I took the pickup. It was amazing. I got tickets to dance halls, all kinds of gear from bike shops, and gift certificates from restaurants and stores all over town. The only drawback to this charity is that only family members can visit because most of the kids don't know what’s going on and some get violent under stress but we raised over $18,000 to provide gifts for them.
In the second photo I’d like to give credit to the bike club The Regulators, each member is active law enforcement and the help with the multitude of bikes on the run and security for all. They are great brothers. In ending this I'm hooking up with a few other runs throughout this year I found it to be very satisfying.
Biker Bob
