Bikers will ride to aid camp for kids with MD

[totalmotorcycle]

Bikers will ride to aid camp for kids with MD
By Susan Williams - wvgazette.com







Members of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Camp might not have the mobility that some children enjoy, but this July, they will be rolling in style as part of a Harley-Davidson fundraiser for the camp.

Chuck Rist, director of the River Cities Chapter of Harley-Davidson owners, said he and other members of his group were watching a telethon and saw an Ohio motorcycle group raising money for West Virginia children with muscular dystrophy.

“I thought they are certainly welcome to come here,” he said. “But why does someone from Ohio need to be doing this? We should be doing this.”


It costs $600 per camper for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to provide a week of camping for children with muscular dystrophy.

The bikers will start in Huntington at Benjy’s Harley-Davidson and ride about 100 miles to the camp in Ripley. Riders are pledging 25 cents a mile for the benefit of the camp. Once in the camp on July 14, they also plan to spend time with the campers and to offer sidecar rides.

“We can ride and get out,” Rist said. “We want to make it special for those who do not have that mobility.”

The bikers usually take a ride to Snowshoe, but are stopping at Ripley first. “Sometimes it’s not the destination — it’s the journey. And this is a cool journey,” Rist said.

Shelly Kelley, camp director for the MDA Summer Camp, thinks the idea is cool, too. Kelley said camp officials are always planning “stuff that is real cool for the campers.”

This year the camp theme is comic book heroes. The campers chose the theme themselves.

Until four years ago, campers had to travel to Ohio or Pennsylvania for their week of camping.

Because of the children’s disabilities, they need one counselor for each camper. They hope to have 50 campers this year.

They also must have a doctor and nurse on staff from July 10 to July 15. “We cannot give out medications, so we need a doctor and nurse. Medical supplies are also very expensive,” Kelley said.

Besides meals, T-shirts for each camper, medical supplies and arts and craft materials, they also provide a “goody bag” for each camper to take home.


Throughout the week, they also take pictures of the campers, and the campers can select their favorite shots to be placed in the photo book each child will collect during the week.

They also have a prom for the campers. Hickory Limousine Service in Beckley will drive the campers to the prom.

Before sending a child to camp, parents can be hesitant or fearful about letting them attend for a week, she said. “But once they go and they see how much fun the children are having, they get hooked,” she said.

The campers know what a life with barriers is like. But at camp, they help each other overcome barriers, she said.

They also make friends at camp and keep in contact throughout the year with e-mail or phone calls, she said.

“They tell us that they wait 51 weeks for their week at camp,” she said.

For information, call staff at the Muscular Dystrophy Association at 344-9807 or visit the Web site at www.mdausa.org.

The camp receives funding from the Gazette Charities Send-A-Child-To-Camp Fund. To contribute to this fund, send a check payable to Gazette Charities, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, 25301. Contact Karin Fuller at karinfuller@cnpapers.com or 348-5191.