More than 500 bikers gathered Sunday, Sept. 2 for a ride up the beautiful Poudre Canyon in Northern Colorado with celebrity rider Xavier Muriel to benefit local charity Realities For Children in their support of abused, neglected and at-risk children.
In its 9th year, the 2018 Forever Family Ride raised over $30,000 for Realities For Children Charities Emergency Fund through the ride itself and a live auction that included an autographed guitar from Bret Michaels. Event sponsors, Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson, Law Tigers, Blue Federal Credit Union and Dickey’s BBQ cover the event costs, ensuring that 100 percent of the proceeds the event go directly to meeting the needs of the children served by Realities For Children. Specifically the focus of this event is on helping children in Larimer County who have been displaced due to abuse or neglect to ‘find their forever family’. For the first time this year, each rider was given a windshield sticker with the name of a Colorado child waiting for their Forever Family and encouraged to ride in honor of that child.
The Forever Family ride was part of Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson’s 14th Annual Thunder in the Rockies motorcycle rally, the largest rally in Colorado and the Mountain West region. This year’s Forever Family Ride had over 500 riders enjoying a scenic 50+mile ride route departing from Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson and traveling up Highway 14 through the Poudre Canyon to an End-of-Ride Party at Glen Echo Resort with live auction, giveaways, BBQ lunch and live music.
The celebrity ride leader this year was Xavier Muriel. In addition to being the drummer for the grammy-nominated band Buckcherry, Xavier has been an avid motorcyclist and builder for years, garnering him a spot on the Cycle Source Magazine staff and invitations to numerous shows, including the prestigious Motorcycles as Art exhibit in Sturgis, SD while he continues to race pre-1920 motorcycles in the Sons of Speed races in Sturgis and Daytona.
“We are thrilled by the results of this year’s event and our partnership with Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson. This event has really become the go-to way for riders to wrap up the summer by joining together to help ensure that every child in our community has a forever family”, says Craig Secher, President of Realities for Children Charities.
About the Realities For Children:
Realities For Children provides for the unmet and ongoing support needs of children in Northern Colorado who have been abused, neglected or are at-risk by uniting local businesses, youth agencies and the community in collaborative and mutually beneficial service. With the support of our Business Members and our partnerships with 34 local youth agencies, we are creating a safety net for thousands of local children…Because No Child Should Be Forgotten.
