Beneath black leather beat some of the most philanthropic hearts.
Throughout the suburbs, motorcycle riders are quietly — or, more correctly, without publicity — raising funds for causes such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other charities. Besides major non-profit organizations, individual victims of disease and accidents as well as local schools, hospitals and nursing homes benefit from the benevolence of bikers.
Little Angels Nursing Home in Elgin, which cares for developmentally disabled children and young adults, is a favorite of the Elgin H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) chapter. Every year the city of Elgin declares a Sunday in May Little Angels Day, and everyone knows that the noise and traffic of 3,000 bikes serve a beneficial purpose.
“We are totally dependent on Medicaid funds here, and the funding has been so poor for so long that without the benefit of moneys raised from the Elgin H.O.G.s, Little Angels certainly would be suffering,” says Shelley Lewis, administrator of Little Angels Nursing Home.
“I question whether we could provide quality care or even keep our doors open. The money goes for things that make a difference in the lives of our residents: therapeutic equipment, medical equipment, funds to take residents on field trips, arts and crafts supplies. If there is something our residents are in need of, we are able to provide it because of the Elgin Harley Owners Group.”
Bill Groves of Carpentersville, plant manager for an Elk Grove Village sheet metal business, was this year’s coordinator for the Little Angels motorcycle run, which raised more than $200,000. His wife, Susan, is a chapter member and served as treasurer for the run, which is the chapter’s main event, though members help other chapters’ causes.
“We try to support them because they come out and support us,” Groves says. “Even the independents (riders who don’t belong to clubs) help us.”
There are nearly 19,000 H.O.G. members in Illinois, according to the Harley Owners Group national office in Milwaukee.
DuKane ABATE (A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education) of DuPage and Kane Counties, with more than 800 members, each year holds the DuKane Chapter Food and Toy Run. This year’s motorcycle run was held in October in Batavia. Thousands of riders, many with toys strapped to their bikes, came to Batavia. After a short parade, the bikers gathered at the Batavia VFW, where they loaded trucks full of toys.
The event’s primary beneficiary is the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Illinois, though members also collect non-perishable food and stuffed animals for local shelters, food pantries and other groups.
Rae Sutty of Naperville, special projects coordinator for DuKane ABATE, says the run involves more than 4,000 bikers from throughout the Chicago area. She points out that ABATE is also a sisterhood, because more than one-third of the motorcycle licenses in Illinois are issued to women.
ABATE works for motorcyclists’ rights and against what its members see as unjust laws, such as those requiring helmets (Illinois has no such law). Sutty reports that ABATE chapters also hold safety courses in high school drivers’ ed classes, instructing new drivers how to share the road with motorcycles. They also teach beginning riding courses. “Bikers will do anything for children and for our own people, but we’re very involved in safety and education too,” she says.
Linda Parck is director of corporate and donor relations for Make-A-Wish of Northern Illinois. “We make wishes come true with the moneys they raise,” Parck says. “We attend (DuKane ABATE’s) annual meeting and let them know about all the wishes they’ve made come true.”
Parck recalls an evening in 1988 when she talked to DuKane ABATE members for the first time about Make-A-Wish: “There was not a dry eye in the place. They couldn’t do enough for Make-A-Wish on the spot. They gave me cash and asked if there was ever a child whose wish was to ride a Harley. They wanted to help make it happen.”
The 1998 run raised about $25,000, and the group has raised more than $200,000 since they began about 10 years ago, says Parck. “Every time they do something, they do it with the foundation in mind, to help the kids,” she says.
The Rock River H.O.G. in the Rockford area has more than 250 members. H.O.G. chapter director Dana Caldwell of Loves Park says his group includes doctors, dentists, sanitation workers — a whole range of people.
The chapter works for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and has a run in conjunction with a Harley-Davidson dealer, Kegel Motorcycle Co. in Rockford, each June.
“(We do it for) the satisfaction of seeing unfortunate people — give them some help,” Caldwell says. “When you see the look on those people’s faces, that’s probably it.”
Amy Morris, district field representative for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Rockford, which covers seven counties, including McHenry, says the Rock River H.O.G. blackjack run, in which about 400 bikers participated, raised more than $8,000 for MDA this year.
“They’ve been very supportive of MDA,” she says. “The most impressive thing is their caring. Sometimes (bikers) get a reputation of being rough, tough Harley riders, but they are really sweet, caring individuals who come through for us every year.”
Morris says other motorcycle groups have helped out; ABATE did a poker run, in which riders draw poker cards at different points along a designated route, hoping to have the winning hand at the end of the run, that raised $4,000.
Mike Ruffner of Woodstock, a retired Marine, is chairman of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Support Committee. Ruffner says his Toys for Tots group receives a great deal of help from various motorcycle clubs, which hold a run the first Sunday in December. Last year, Ruffner says, 188,000 toys were collected with the help of the biker community. They will hold their 21st run this year; about 18,000 bikers attended last year.
“A rule of thumb over the years is that one-third of the toys are directly related to bikers all over Chicagoland,” he says.
Ruffner says the bikers have a knack for getting out information. “If you need billboards, they know somebody,” he says. “If you need to get to the media, they know somebody. They beat the bush and shake the trees because of the organization they have.”
The Blue Knights, motorcyclists who work in law enforcement, have a chapter in Elgin that is involved in an Adopt-a-Highway pickup program. Since the program began in 1993, the members have picked up trash every three months from a one-mile stretch of Illinois Highway 31.
“The Blue Knights were the first service organization that approached the city of Elgin to participate in this program,” says Gary Miller, assistant public works director for the City of Elgin. “They go out at least four times a year to do litter collections. They’ve done a good job for us.”
Terry Haak of Woodstock is director of the McHenry County Independent Riders. Originally a H.O.G. chapter, the McHenry County Independent Riders broke away five years ago and now have 256 members in Illinois.
The group raises money for the McHenry County Adult & Child Rehab Center in Woodstock; this year’s run and evening dance, held on July 18, raised more than $7,000.
“We’re family oriented; we want to take care of family and provide safe riding for them,” Terry Haak says. “And we’re out to help people in our community.
“I go out there (to the rehab center) myself to see the adults and elderly and children they work with. They have designated that the monies our organization raises for them is set aside for the less fortunate, those who cannot afford therapy, do not have insurance. We really enjoy the people out there at the rehab center.”
Susan Martino, CEO of the center, which provides physical, speech and occupational therapy and nursing care to disabled children and adults throughout McHenry County, says the Independent Riders have raised close to $50,000 for the organization.
“They are particularly fond of our children.” she says.
Top Cats, which meets in Wauconda, was founded in 1994 by “businessmen with an entrepreneurial spirit who were interested in motorcycling,” according to the group’s president, Ric Case of Lake Zurich. Their Bikers for Business program ties business connections with motorcycling.
The club’s charitable work primarily is for NISRA (Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association) in Crystal Lake, though like most clubs, they support and participate in other groups’ rides. Brian Shahinian, executive director of NISRA, says his agency provides recreation programs for more than 2,000 people with disabilities in nine communities.
Top Cats ride to raise funds for NISRA’s Special Olympic training programs. The group held its first ride for NISRA two years ago and raised $3,140.
Shahinian says that although the club was unable to hold a ride in 1997, “they wanted to connect with the people with disabilities that we serve, so our staff and theirs held a joint picnic for NISRA participants.
“It was really exciting to see the Top Cats members and our members enjoying a day together with activities and food,” he recalls. “There are many organizations that contribute money to us, but very few take the time to participate in activities with our special residents.”
Shahinian adds: “I think there were bigger smiles on their members’ faces than our participants. They said, `We’re going to do that charity ride again now that we know your participants. We’re going to do more for your agency.’ So this year, they did the ride again (on Oct. 4).”
The Oct. 4 ride from Barrington to Kettle Moraine raised $6,000 for NISRA Special Olympics.
“We do it for the sake of the kids, and we don’t just give money, we spend time with them at the (run),” Case says. “We’re not just giving them money and walking away; we interact with them. Last year in October, we had a picnic for them and let the kids sit on the bikes. You couldn’t believe the excitement and the thrill they got from that. And second, (we do it) to improve the image of motorcycling.”
Elgin resident Rob Bakes is noble grand (director) of the Independent Order of Oddfellows in Carpentersville, a lodge that has been in existence for at least 100 years. Bakes, who owns the Bakes Guitar Shop in Elgin with his wife, Beverly, notes that the lodge is not specifically for bikers, but there are many riders in his group. The group’s mission — to help others — extends to Toys for Tots and the Little Angels Home in Elgin.
The Carpentersville lodge holds an annual Paintathon, in which the group paints a senior citizen’s house. This September, they painted Jawad Mustafa’s house in East Dundee.
“I’m very happy and thankful,” Mustafa says. “They did a wonderful job.”
Gary Wayman of Arlington Heights started the Northwest Suburban Chapter of ABATE six years ago with his wife, Carol.
Although his chapter does not have a special charity, it supports Toys for Tots, Little Angels, MDA, MS and others. “When H.O.G. (or some other group) has an event, we ride in it, and provide volunteers to make it happen,” he says.
To Ruffner of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots committee and others, the bikers’ dedication is what sets them apart.
“Bikers ride in rain or shine or snow; it doesn’t matter,” Ruffner says. “They can look big and bad, but you put a little kid in front of them and they melt. They have the biggest hearts you’ve ever seen.”
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This year’s Toys for Tots run will start at 10 a.m. Dec. 6 at 87th Street and Western Avenue in Chicago and will go north on Western to the Marine Reserve Center at 3034 W. Foster. Call the center at 773-539-6464.
THESE CLUBS GET IN GEAR FOR CHARITY
Here are some of the motorcycle organizations with chapters in the northwest suburbs. All are involved in charitable work, though that may not be their primary mission.
Note: Harley Owners Group directors may be contacted through their sponsoring dealers. To join a H.O.G. chapter, you must be a member of H.O.G. National. (For information about H.O.G., call 800-CLUBHOG.)
ABATE of Illinois; 800-87ABATE (1-800-872-2283).
Blue Knights Chapter 2, Elgin; 847-931-0709.
DuKane Chapter of ABATE, West Chicago; 630-778-0685.
Elgin H.O.G., Fischer’s Harley-Davidson Sales Inc. in Elgin; Bill Groves, coordinator of Little Angels Run; 847-742-3242.
Independent Order of Oddfellows, Century Lodge No. 492, Carpentersville; Rob Bakes, noble grand; 847-426-3901.
McHenry County Independent Riders, Terry Haak, director; 815-334-0968.
Northwest Suburban Chapter of ABATE; Gary Wayman, ABATE Illinois state representative; 847-392-4411.
Rock River H.O.G., Rockford; Dana Caldwell, director; 815-637-1361.
Top Cats; Ric Case, director; 847-622-3501.
