Houston Ride For Kids raises record $173K!

The Ride for Kids charitable program made its second stop this year in southeast
Texas where over 850 motorcyclists raised a record $173,486 on Sunday April 22.
Following behind police motorcycles and squad cars on their triumphant journey
through the wildflower-laden Texas countryside, the riders enjoyed a day of
excitement and emotion.

Jeff Smart of Fresno, California - the proud dad of eight-year-old brain tumor
survivor Justin Smart - summed up everyone's thoughts when he shared his
feelings after he rode his Gold Wing at the head of the miles-long procession of
motorcycles. "As I looked in my mirrors and saw the sea of headlights behind
us," he commented, "I felt like I was being followed by hundreds of Texas Angels
that were on their way to a gunfight. Before the day was done I knew that those
Angels were "gonna kick some tumor butt!"


His prediction came true when six little brain tumor patients came up on stage
and unfurled a giant-sized check with $173,486 in total donations emblazoned on
its bottom line. The assembled motorcyclists roared their approval.


This was a time for breaking national records as the Top Fundraising Dealership,
Pasadena Honda, registered a whopping $63,247 in donations turned in by their
customers. GWRRA Chapter Z of Pasadena, TX registered another national Ride for
Kids first with $45,516 raised by their members. And a big tip of the helmet
goes to Mike Culpepper of Fort Worth who personally collected $8,049 in
donations. Two of the biggest smiles of the day were on the faces of Ronnie
Lunsford, the proud Houston volunteer Task Force leader, and Bill Wynn from
Houston, TX winner of the Grand Prize Honda motorcycle.


The next Ride for Kids is a doubleheader weekend is May 6, with an off-road
event in Washington, GA and an inaugural Pennsylvania road ride in Pittsburgh,
PA.


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Ride for Kids events provide financial support for the programs of the Pediatric
Brain Tumor Foundation of the U.S. The next Ride for Kids will be held on April
22, 2001 in Houston, TX. For more information about the Houston Ride for Kids
and other Ride for Kids events, please call the PBTFUS at 800-253-6530 or visit:
http://www.ride4kids.org or http://www.pbtfus.org.


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