Ride For Kids

Once a year a bunch of motorcycle riders in the Houston area get together and take a little ride to raise money for medical research centering on brain tumors that occur in children. This event is called the "Ride for Kids" and it benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. (See links on right side bar)

We all pay about $35 to ride a 40 mile parade where the local police close whatever roads we are scheduled to ride (including interstates) and we putt down the road. But the work is done well before the day of the ride. All year, we have groups of bikers raising money for the effort and this year the Houston area riders raised over $280,000. These events happen all over the country and combined they add up to a tidy sum funding research that has had real results.

Years ago, it was common for a child with a tumor to pass away in the time between one fund raising ride and the next, but today we heard from a 31 year old nurse who was one of the early brain tumor survivors. The youngest patient we heard from today was 13 months old. She didn’t have much to say, but her father spoke for her and expressed the hope that he had for her future.

We bikers can't take credit for the advances that have occurred over the past 25 years that the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation has been funding research, but it is nice that a bunch of regular folks like us have found a way to be involved in furthering this effort.

My camera ran out of battery before much of the ride was complete today, but it was a good event for a worthy cause. Eighteen survivors and current patients from 13 months to 31 years old took the stage to tell us a little about their cases and thanks to the PBTF and Ride for Kids all of their futures look a little brighter.

Even the rain on the way home couldn't undo the good that came from today's ride.

oVo