Bikers revved it up for a good cause over the long weekend as the Breast Cancer Pledge Ride North kicked into high gear.
Held in and around Flin Flon on Sunday, August 2, the event likely raised between $20,000 and $25,000 to help purchase a modern breast-screening van for Manitoba.
“It’s much more than we expected,” said Lisa Rogers, head organizer along with sister Paulette Wotton.
This marked the third year for the annual Pledge Ride North, and it was the most ambitious entry yet.
For the first time the event included a draw for a motorcycle – a 2015 Indian Chief Vintage worth $30,000 once taxes and freight were factored in. Bill Mollard of St. Andrews, Manitoba, was the lucky winner.
The draw was a challenge to pull off, particularly when organizers learned that in order to raffle off a $30,000 prize, they would need to show lottery regulators they had $30,000 in cash.
They did not have that kind of money, so Rogers and Wotton’s mother, area resident Rita Person, agreed to put up the necessary dollars. Of course the money was not actually needed as the draw was a major success.
The Pledge Ride North kicked off Sunday morning with 39 bikers, many carrying passengers, cruising from Flin Flon to Gyles Park. They took part in a poker run on the way back.
That night, about 100 people – bikers and members of the public alike – converged on the Rotary Wheel for a social featuring local musicians and the much-anticipated bike draw.
The event was the pinnacle of generosity. Bernice Snyder, winner of the poker run, donated her $225 in winnings back to the fundraiser.
Later at the social, Once Upon A Cure, a team in the upcoming Relay for Life cancer-fighting fundraiser, sold 50/50 tickets. Both the team and the raffle winner donated their proceeds back to the Pledge Ride North, a total of $270.
Kris Steele, one of the Pledge Ride North volunteers, said she was impressed by the community support.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It always is, but you always have that little bit of fear that it might not be that [way] this year, but it was again, as always.”
On Monday, Rogers hadn’t calculated a final tally but expected the Pledge Ride North would generate between $20,000 and $25,000. It made about $20,000 in each of its first two years.
Pledge Ride North organizers are donating the money to CancerCare Manitoba with the request that it help purchase a digital breast-screening van for the province to replace the current analogue model.
The fundraiser is important to Rogers because of cancer’s wide and devastating reach.
“Very few people are not affected by some kind of cancer,” she said, “and because my sister and I are kind of spearheading it, of course we’re gearing it to women, and so breast cancer comes to mind and, ‘What can we do that we love to do and raise money and help other women?’ We can ride motorcycles and raise money.”
Asked whether the Pledge Ride North will return in 2016, Rogers enthusiastically confirmed that it will – complete with another bike draw.
