Riders hopeful for snowy fund raiser event
by Janine Giordano |
The fourth annual Ride for Hope is almost here, and event organizers
are hoping for bad weather. They want a snowy forecast by the time Feb.
11 arrives. Lots and lots of snow.
Last year’s event was altered slightly when the weather warmed up
and left snowmobilers without enough snow to complete the 30 mile ride.
As a result, supporters gathered instead for what is normally an “after
the ride” party, according to Jeff Davis, a Ride for Hope organizer and
snowmobile enthusiast.
Despite the lack of precipitation, hundreds of riders raised $33,000
for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC),
which is located in Utica, Davis said. “And that was without snow. We
have a goal of $40,000 set for this year. The first year $16,000 was
raised and in the second year snowmobilers raised $42,000, the largest
amount of money ever collected in Ride for Hope’s history.
Participating snowmobilers are requested to register, pay the $10
fee and then pledge $50. In past years, Davis said, “some riders have
raised $50, some have raised $700. It all evens out.”
For their efforts, he said “they’ll get a tee-shirt with the
logo and date on it, and a goodie bag stuffed with goodies. I’ve never
had anyone complain in the past about the goodie bags they get.”
In addition to those gifts, Davis said, “when the riders get back
they’ll get a free cookout of burgers, hot dogs and chili,” complete
with live music. There will also be raffle drawings with the prizes
including a snowmobile trailer, Adirondack chairs, snowmobile dolly,
DVD-VHS player and gift certificates, all of which are drawn the day of
the ride.
Activities are also scheduled for the after-event festivities. There
will be ice skating, ski-boose rides (trailers on skis, pulled around
by a snowmobile), a barn dance and outhouse races.
These races will require five team members and an outhouse, said
Davis, “with two people pulling and two people pushing. One person
rides in it as they go through an obstacle course. There are three
areas to perform tasks as they race against another team for cash
prizes.
Having fun is important, but secondary to the primary reason for
hosting this event, Davis said. “Our goal is to bring attention to the
center and the children’s need for programs.”
The money will be used to fund a poster program in which the center
distributes posters of missing children. “Over 3.4 million posters have
been distributed since the beginning of the program. Out of 1,257
children pictured in these posters, 789 have been recovered,” Davis
said.
The posters are then distributed to the public, targeting certain
areas where abducted children may be taken, including clinics,
pediatrician’s offices, YMCA buildings.
While NCMEC is an international organization, there is a branch in
Utica, which was opened in 1995, after the abduction of Sara Anne Wood,
according to Davis. Other programs, to both educate people and to
respond to abductions, are also supported through this organization.
The term “exploited” includes children who are abused physically or
sexually, as well as those who are abducted and sold as slaves, such as
is the practice in Third World countries. Missing children can be taken
by strangers or by someone they know, Davis said, although abductions
through the Internet are becoming more frequent.
Predators make friends with youths over the Internet, “pretend they
are teenagers, then meet. The kids are then sexually abused or at the
very worst, taken,” Davis said. This can happen with boys or girls, but
predominantly (it happens) more with females. “It happens everywhere,
they get on the Internet in a chat room, and can’t see who they’re
talking to. It can be a 54 year old man pretending to be a (teen-aged)
boy or girl.”
Registration will take place at the Feb. 11 event, from 8-10 a.m.,
at the Kast Hill Farm, three miles north of Herkimer, off Route 28. To
register, contact the East Herkimer Sno-Riders at (315) 866-8208, or
visit their website at www.ehsnoriders.com.
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