Charity events in four states raise money for local shelters.
By Michael Rinker, Best Friends Senior Editor
Thanks to wind, rain and the threat of flash floods in Southern Utah, the Second Annual Bikers for Best Friends event on Sept. 22 was conspicuously lacking in bikes. But thanks to the support and caring of bikers there and around the country, it was not lacking in friends.
Despite cancellation of the charity ride through Zion National Park to the Best Friends sanctuary, the local event still raised $4,000 for nearby rescue groups and found forever homes for five dogs. Several applications for cat adoptions are pending. About 30 animals were showcased.
Combined with simultaneous events in New York, Colorado and Arizona – where the weather more or less cooperated – Bikers for Best Friends raised more than $11,000 for the day. The money generated at each location is given to rescue groups in that area.
In addition, 16 adoptions were approved, with applications pending on many more.
Officially known as the Bikers for Best Friends Pet Adoption and Poker Run, the event revolves around the biker tradition of a “poker run,” where the riders stop at five designated locations along their route and draw a card at each stop. At the end of the run, the best five-card poker hand wins a prize.
Meanwhile, publicity generated by the event attracts more customers to the showroom, which is good for the dealership and good for local rescue groups who showcase their adoptable animals there.
The events usually include lunch for the participants and live music, as well as raffles, auctions and pet fashion shows.
Bikers who pre-register are encouraged to create their own online pledge page to solicit sponsor donations from family and friends.
In Arizona, the event was hosted by Hacienda Harley-Davidson in Scottsdale. Lorie Wiggs, who works for the dealership, was chatting with the manager of San Felipe Animal Rescue when she discovered that one of its puppies was named Sammy. Coincidentally, two years earlier she had adopted a dog named Sammy from a local shelter. Opting not to fight the kismet, Lorie adopted her second Sammy.
In New York, the Pets Alive Sanctuary, where Best Friends has been helping turn around the once-failing shelter, got much needed exposure as well as half the $1,000 raised at the New Roc Harley-Davidson in New Rochelle. One of the six adoptions at New Roc was Bailey, who came from Pets Alive. The “very sweet and loving” Chow recently had her leg amputated because it had been broken and healed incorrectly.
Colorado had the second-highest number of riders (about 100) and money raised (more than $3,500) at its event, which was hosted by High Country Harley-Davidson in Frederick.
In its inaugural year, Bikers for Best Friends was held in a single location – the Zion Harley-Davidson in Washington City, about an hour and a half west of the sanctuary. Just one year and three states later, the event appears to be taking off.
“I think Bikers for Best Friends will continue to grow because we are on the right track as we get bikers together across the country to support animals in need,” said Ross Hartill, Best Friends maintenance manager, biker and guiding force behind the event.
Some 300 riders participated this year, more than three times the number in 2006. Likewise, the amount of money raised nearly quadrupled.
(For more information on the event’s history - and to order the very cool Bikers for Best Friends t-shirt -
Click hereAlan Blackburn, general manager of Zion Harley, also believes the event will flourish.
“The perception that people have of bikers is that they are a rough-and-tumble group and don’t care about anyone but themselves. In actuality they like to do things for organizations as a group. People that ride Harleys are a tight-knit group with bonds that no other manufacturer has.
“Because they own Harleys [and have money to spend as a group] it’s a natural hand-and-glove fit for us to team up for an animal rescue agency like Best Friends.”
Although 120 people pre-registered for the Zion ride, Alan estimates that had the weather cooperated at least 200 to 250 would have showed up.
The groups benefiting from the money raised in the Utah event are the Zion Animal Lovers, Cedar Animal Rescue, Because Animals Matter, PAWS, Friends of Ivins Animal Shelter and Sadie’s Safe Haven for Animals.
Photos by Clay Myers, Best Friends Community Programs and ServicesClick
here to read about the Arizona event.
Click
here to read about the Colorado event.
Click
here to read about the New York event.