SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Members of a local motorcycle club and the Sanford Health Foundation teamed up to raise money to send pediatric cancer patients and survivors to camp.
The rumbles took over part of Sioux Falls today for the ninth annual “Rally and Ride for a Cure” poker run. The event is hosted by the Bellator Titans MC, a local motorcycle club.
“What we’re all really about is helping our communities and children in our communities and families that need help and stuff,” Bryon Farmer, president and founder of the Bellator Titans MC, said. “Pretty much anything. We’re involved in quite a few different charity fundraisers.”
The poker run raises between $40,000-$60,000 dollars a year, with all proceeds going right to “Camp Bring it On!” hosted near Watertown.
“It takes about $1,800-$2,000 per child to go to that camp and with our help and some other foundations that raise money for this,” Farmer said. “We’re able to let these kids go to summer camp and build lifelong relationships with other children that have been through the same thing they have. We’ve been doing it for nine years and we’re approaching half a million dollars raised.”
Today’s poker run started at J&L Harley-Davidson in Sioux Falls and ended at Critter’s Lounge in Crooks. Riders stopped at five of 10 designated stops on their way before finishing here to draw their hand.
“Normally ride for a cure is a two-day event where we have a ride on Saturday, then a kind of vendor/community day on Sunday,” Bethany Olson, senior development officer of the Sanford Health Foundation, said. “This year, just because of COVID, we have pushed the event back to July. Normally we have it in May.”
“Camp Bring it On!” is a summer camp for kids who have the shared experience of cancer.
“I actually lost my little brother this year to cancer, so it makes it even a deeper deal,” Farmer said. “And we’ve lost some of our club brothers in the past here to cancer, so it’s very meaningful for us to make this run possible.”
The camp is normally held in June, but was cancelled this year because of COVID-19. They hope to get together for one day in the fall, otherwise all the money raised from the poker run will go to next year’s camp.
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Source: KELO by Carter Schmidt