By James Feichtner
With Memorial Day approaching and the weather warming up, the time to break out the bicycles is upon us. And what better event to break out your bike than with the Give Hope Ride Memorial Day event?
Coming May 25, The Give Hope Ride will be celebrating its third annual Give Hope Ride charitable event at Heritage Park. Previously benefitting St. Jude’s hospital, the event aims to raise funds through participation in a leisurely community bike ride. This year, the Fishers YMCA will be partnering with the event.
“The YMCA is chipping in and we think it’s really going to get elevated to a higher level then it’s been in the past,” said John Wright, Give Hope Ride founder. “It’s a fun ride, it’s a great ride, it’s a community ride.”
The event is 100 percent charitable with all of the proceeds going towards the Fishes YMCA’s Y for All campaign.
“All the money that’s generated from participation and from our sponsors will go to help families and kids in our community who wouldn’t be able to afford YMCA programs, day camps, sports programs, membership; all of that, so it all goes directly back into the community,” said David Clark, Fishers YMCA member involvement director.
The event is welcome to all members and families of the community to participate.
“We have an adult ride,” Wright said. “We’ve got a cruiser ride that’s just for casual riders if you just want to hop on your bike and just go a shorter distance and just through the neighborhoods in Fishers and then we also have a family bike ride in the park.”
This year the ride will be featuring a special event for kids in collaboration with local law enforcement.
“We’re going to do a kids bike rodeo and that will be a fun event for kids just to learn some skills,” said Clark. “There’s also the Fishers Police Department that’s involved with that. They talk about safety and how to be safe on your bike and that’s kind of new for the ride.”
Registration for the event is $25. Lunch will be provided by Nameless catering and Chick Fila of Noblesville. Refreshments will also be provided throughout the course of the ride. The event will also feature live music and all participants will receive medals.
