I missed this over the weekend, but wanted to provide a shout out after the fact. Details are available in a great article from Tom Hallman Jr., of The Oregonian on the Musician’s Toy Run Benefit Concert which was held this past Saturday.
The event was put on by ABATE of Oregon. It’s nice to see/read a positive news article about bikers. Both Art West (Brothers Speed MC) and Mike Friend (ABATE Chaplain) provided inspiring quotes along with perspectives on the type of help ABATE has been behind over the years with the Shriners Hospital.
Note that on December 6th the Toy Run for the Portland Shriners Hospital will occur. The public is welcome. Riders will start gathering about 10 a.m. at the TriMet parking lot at 4012 S.E. 17th Ave. Raffle tickets ($10) for a chance to win a Harley-Davidson will be sold there. The drawing will be at noon, and then a ride to deliver toys to the Portland Shriners Hospital for Children will begin about 12:30 p.m. More information and updates will be posted on the event calendar HERE.
The ABATE/Shriners Toy Run has been in existence since December 1980. ABATE is a not-for-profit motorcycle organization devoted to raising member and public awareness about motorcycle issues and safety through education and community involvement.
It’s a great example of motorcycle riders doing a lot of good in/for the community!
Poster courtesy of ABATE web site.
Northwest Harley Blog 
Hey, thanks for the kind words about A.B.A.T.E Mac.
Yep, we are not just the “helmet guys” anymore. Sure, we fight for the right to not wear a lid, but we are about so much more too.
Community involvement, Awareness, safety, education, legislation, and just being a good neighbor. Sure wish more folks would get involved. What we do here in Oregon we do for all 220,000 plus endorsed motorcycle riders.
Right now, membership is just at about 1,700. Dismal actually. We just can’t do it alone. We would love to see that number double this next year. We have so many things going on besides toy runs and helmet laws, this event here was just one of them.
Thanks for the recognition Mac, every bit helps.
Oh, and BikePAC needs you too folks. BikePAC works closely with A.B.A.T.E on the legislative issues, you will likely find BikePAC folks working on way’s to help get meaningful legislative issues passed.
Sure hope some more folks get involved, 2009 is going to be a big year for both organizations.
WJ
@ WJ – glad to do my small part and raise a little visibility.