Motorcycles kept showing up all day for the Toy Run
BURLEY, ID ( November 13, 2016) — Brother Speed South
Central Chapter motorcycle club rattled the Magic Valley for a good cause last
week as nearly 200 bikes turned out for the Black and Gold South Central Toy
Run raising $20,000.
“I heard all the motorcycles on Saturday (Nov. 5) and
they were coming from every direction,” said Linda Short, president of the
Mini-Cassia Christmas Council. “It touches me. They are so good. I am just in
awe with Brother Speed and the fact they care about this small community.”
The motorcycle club donation is the largest annual
donation of toys the council receives.
Bikers gather for the annual Black and Gold South Central Toy Run
“It is our mainstay for Christmas presents,” she said.
There is no reason for any Mini-Cassia child to go
without toys on Christmas, said Brother Speed chapter president Gary Pawson.
“We’ve been stocking the Christmas Council for years,”
Pawson said.
This year “there will also be a big surprise,” Pawson
said. “But, we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet.”
A shopping date is set in December for club members to go
to Wal-Mart, where they get a 10 percent discount on the toys purchased. The
toys are then donated to the Mini-Cassia Christmas Council.
Wal-Mart registers lock up when a 1,000 item limit is
reached.
“We hit that limit three times last year,” Pawson said.
After the 10 percent discount is knocked off, the group
buys more toys with the amount saved.
Over 300 bikers showed up and donated over $20,000 for toys
“We are giving bikes and nice toys,” Pawson said. “We
make sure they are getting the good stuff.”
It takes the members two hours just to check out at two
registers during the shopping spree.
Pawson said about 300 people from around Idaho, Washington,
Utah and California showed up to participate in the charity event.
“It’s a lot of fun riding, that’s the fun part for us but
it was nice to see a lot of people in the community come out to watch us,”
Pawson said about the attention they drew. “Two-hundred motorcycles make some
noise.”
This is the 20th year for the toy run, which was
spearheaded by Pawson and some of his friends before he was a Brother Speed
member.
“We were just sitting around having a beer and most of us
had grown up n Heyburn in area where a lot of kids don’t get toys for
Christmas,” Pawson said.
The first event took two weeks to plan and was held on
Dec. 18 in 18 degree weather, he said. They raised $2,500 the first year after
25 motorcycles came out to participate.
During the first five or six years of the event, they
distributed the toys to churches themselves before teaming up with the
Christmas Council.
The Brother Speed chapter took the event over 17 years
ago, Pawson said.
Now, the club starts planning for the event at the first
of the year. The event raises money through donations, entrance fees and from
shirt sales.
