Bikers are coming together for a ride to raise breast cancer awareness and to raise money for the Cancer Centers of Southwest Oklahoma.
Bikers and Bras started last year when the Spirit of Survival was canceled due to the coronavirus.
Kim Mills, the Sales Manager at Diamondback Harley Davidson, says some members of the Ladies of Harley group approached them last year asking if they could host the ride to make sure the Cancer Center didn’t run short on donations. One of the people asking was a lady rider and Cancer Center employee.
“She expressed concerns about how they may not be able to maintain vehicles or even purchase new vehicles, so we came up with this idea because Diamondback Harley Davidson and the Harley Davidson riders themselves have always come together to try to support the community,” Mills said.
Seeing a group start an event from scratch to fill a need means a lot to Alison Green, with the Cancer Centers of Southwest Oklahoma, and to the patients needing help with treatment.
“It’s life or death for the patients at the Cancer Center,” Green said. “Fundraising is what gets people through treatment. Some people wouldn’t even have treatment without certain fundraising. Transportation, medication assistance, just food in general, everything. These people have so many financial barriers when they’re going through cancer.”
Bikers and Bras was put together last year, not knowing how the turnout would be.
“They came together, and they raised $11,000 for us,” Green said. “We couldn’t have Spirit of Survival last year because of COVID, and they made up so many losses for us.”
That was better than expected. Event organizers hoped to raise $5,000.
After more than doubling their goal last year, they’ve set the bar even higher this year.
“We have a goal of raising $12,500, and we are well on track to meet that goal and exceed it as well,” Mills said.
It’s $20 for riders and $10 for a passenger. The first bike out is at 10, and the last bike in is at 3. They have things like food trucks, live music, a 50/50 drawing, and a bra decorating contest for those who don’t have bikes but would still like to attend.
“I just want them to walk away with a sense of knowing that they’ve helped our community,” Mills said. “They’ve helped do something that they may not have ever done before. They’ve come and participated in something that they may not have done before just because of the cause and what it does for everyone.”