Inspired by an 11-year-old leukemia survivor, motorcyclists will rip down River Road from Hahnville to New Orleans on Sunday – all for a good cause.
The Vicious Ryderz and Free Riders motorcycle clubs are partnering up for a charity ride to benefit Children’s Hospital leukemia research. The ride was established in honor of Vicious Ryder member Lakechia Variste’s son Ken, who has been in remission for two years after a battle with cancer.
The ride will begin at the Vicious Ryderz clubhouse (15661 Hwy 18 in Hahnville) and will take the motorcyclists down River Road to Gretna, to Newton Street in Algiers and finally to the Free Riders clubhouse near L.B. Landry High School. Departure from Hahnville is set for 10 a.m.
The cost is $20 to ride, with all proceeds going directly to Children’s Hospital.
“It’s a first-time event for us,” said Amanda Hill, founder of the Hahnville-based Ryderz. “We’re going to have food and drinks served at the end, along with music and some other treats. We’ll have a few vendors as well, and it’s all for a great cause.”
Hill said there is no formal registration for the event this year – anybody who wishes to be a part of the ride and help the cause is invited down to the Hahnville clubhouse Sunday morning.
“We didn’t do registration this time since we wanted to see how it would go,” Hill said. “Just asking around, right now we’re expecting around 20 bikes to show up and ride. But we’ve done rides where we never hear anything back and then we’ve ended up with 100 riders.
“It’ll be a laid back ride, no rush – it’s about 35 to 40 minutes from point A to point B. Along River Road, it’ll be a little scenic route. It’ll be something nice and something different. Some rides take you on the interstate, this is all back roads.”
It’s one of a number of charitable events the Vicious Ryderz organize, including an annual prom dress giveaway and a back-to-school drive for local high school students – and Hill said she hopes the club is able to make this ride another among the club’s annual events to give back.
The idea for a ride benefiting the hospital came from conversations between Variste and her fellow team members.
“(Ken’s situation) brought it to our attention. She talked about all of the good things Children’s Hospital was able to do for them. So we called them to see if there was anything we could do,” Hill said. “We got a full tour of the hospital and they let us know where the donations would be going to help.”
While Ken is the inspiration for the ride, he’s also a big part of it.
“Once we get to Newton, he’s going to lead us with his tiny little motorcycle the rest of the way,” said Hill.
Hill said the club will also continue to accept donations to benefit Children’s Hospital through the end of the year – so if anybody is interested in helping the cause, they need not be a motorcyclist. The club itself will be donating $1,000 to the cause.
