MOTORCYCLISTS JOIN MARYSVILLE RIDE FOR KIDS® TO RAISE FUNDS TO FIGHT PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS It was a spectacular summer day in Marysville, Ohio, as 500 motorcyclists, fundraisers and patient families gathered for the 13th annual Marysville Ride for Kids® on Saturday, July 30. The group raised $114,567 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s research and family support programs. The police-escorted motorcycle ride left from the Honda of America Manufacturing plant in Marysville, where the annual Honda Homecoming was taking place. The motorcyclists rode past the beautiful rolling hills and tall corn fields of the Ohio countryside before returning to the Honda plant for a moving Celebration of Life program. There three young brain tumor survivors””the Ride for Kids® “stars” of the day””shared their stories with the crowd. Seth, 6, and Zack, 9, were joined by 17-year-old Matt, who praised the fundraisers for their hard work. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot to me, and God bless you,” he said. Top individual fundraiser honors went to Carol and Ken Denman, who raised $12,400. The top club, GWRRA Ohio Chapter B2, brought in $17,603, and the customers of Wing Dreams of Bellefontaine, Ohio, raised $16,500 to make it the top motorcycle business. “We came last year and the kids had us in tears and it just energized us to help find a cure,” said Tim Harmon of Wing Dreams. Richard C. Bell of Coeymans Hollow, N.Y., was the lucky winner of a brand-new Honda motorcycle. Special thanks went to Marysville Ride for Kids® task force leaders Altrece Hogans and LouAnn McKeen, along with their dedicated volunteers, for hosting an outstanding event. Proceeds of the events fund the medical research and family support programs of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Since 1984, the national Ride for Kids® program and PBTF have supported childhood brain tumor research and family support programs. Programs include free literature about brain tumors, the Helping Hand and Caring Hand national newsletters, the Informed Parent Internet Conference series and college scholarships for young brain tumor survivors. Thanks to the thousands of caring and generous motorcyclists and motorcycle dealers who have supported the program since its inception, PBTF has become the world’s largest non-governmental source of funding for pediatric brain tumor research. The next Ride for Kids® events are on Sunday, Aug. 7 in Hudson Valley, N.Y., and Madison, Wisc. For more information about the Ride for Kids® and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, please visit rideforkids.org or pbtfus.org, or call (800) 253-6530.