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Monday, Nov. 23, 2009

Bikers plan 10th annual charity ride

Santa doesn’t arrive by sleigh but by motorcycle at the Georgia Industrial Children’s Home.

The local district of the American Bikers Active Towards Education will roll down the road Saturday in a “love run” to benefit the more than two dozen kids at the home.

ABATE started the holiday runs 25 years ago, but this is the 10th anniversary of the event at AP’s Hidden Hideaway on Broadway, district coordinator Delmar Singleton said. The group has been donating to the Industrial Home for the past six years but has also benefitted Kids Yule Love and the Salvation Army.

If this year is like others, each adolescent will be presented with a $100 gift card with hundreds of dollars left over for the home to spend on them during the holidays.

For many of the young people ages 13 to 18, it will be the first time they’ve ever had that kind of money to spend on themselves.

“It’s not unusual for them to have very little in the way of clothing as well as things to make them feel like a normal teenager, like an MP3 player,” said Linda Finley, the home’s director.

The youngsters come from broken homes or are victims of neglect and abuse. Some of them have been in Macon at the North Mumford Road campus for years, although recent state and federal guidelines are designed to move children into more permanent care, Finley said.

The current residents attend public school, where they mingle with students from traditional home environments.

“It’s important for them to look like the other kids and have some of the same things the others have,” Finley said.

In many instances, the children use the money to buy gifts for others.

“So what we actually do is give a gift that keeps on giving,” ABATE member Mike Taylor said.

For motorcycle enthusiasts such as Taylor, the ride gives them as much joy as the kids.

Besides the run, which starts at 1 p.m. at Jugheads in Byron and ends at AP’s Hidden Hideaway on Broadway, the bikers will ride out to the home Nov. 29 for a Christmas party for the youngsters. It’s there that they will hand out the gift cards and enjoy ice cream and cake.

“It moves you sometimes to tears. It’s a real good feeling,” Taylor said. “The kids warm up to you and come up to you after a few years. I feel like it’s making a difference.”

As of this week, the home had 28 residents, but that number could increase by the end of the year.

“The holidays are difficult on families,” Finley said. “If they’re already having a rough time, sometimes the bottom will fall out during the holidays.”

Finley, who is in her first year as director, said she dreaded how the economy might affect donations this year. She’s relieved to hear that the bikers will continue their tradition.

“We’re going to do it rain, sleet or snow because it’s for the kids,” Singleton said. “They don’t have much, and we’ve got a lot compared to them.”

The run costs $15 per person and $25 per couple and includes live music and food at AP’s “end of run” party.

While the group used to collect toys, they found it works better to raise money for the gift cards for the teenagers to purchase what they really want.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t like the bikers’ “toys.”

“The kids get to see the motorcycles. They do wheelies and other things,” Finley said. “That’s pretty cool for everybody.”

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.