My son belongs to a motorcycle club called Sons of Service. They are chartered as a nonprofit group and they do several fundraising activities every year. From food bank drives for the surrounding communities to "Toys for Tots" to benefits for individuals suffering from a disease or a catastrophic loss. This particular day I am supporting them in a benefit "Scavenger Hunt" for the national organization Honor Flight.
**Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization in the United States whose mission is to give veterans who participated in wars a free visit to Washington D.C. to visit the war memorials.
Right now they are focusing on sending veterans of World War II to visit the National World War II Memorial, but any veteran suffering from a terminal disease is eligible to go regardless of what war they fought in.
Honor Flight raises money through donations and in 2019 it sponsored 21,189 veterans and 19,389 guardians to accompany and assist their veterans. There are over 30,000 veterans on the waiting list to be selected for this trip.
The Honor Flight Solo Program is explained at this website if you want to know more about how to donate, how to register, or what the program entails.**
In this benefit scavenger hunt, you are given a list of clues and you follow a set itinerary of visiting either an American Legion or a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in the surrounding communities. You ride to each location and try to find items on the hunt list. You don't know which items are at which location and it leads to quite a fun challenge. There is a deadline time to be back at the final stop, in this case, the Keyesport American Legion, pictured above.
All the hunt items are turned in and the team collecting the most points wins $250 generated from the entry fees of $5 per person to join the hunt. After that is taken care of, there is a benefit auction to raise additional money. Individuals and area merchants donate goods and services to be auctioned off.
At the end of the day, Sons of Service raised over $7,000, which was enough to sponsor 3 veterans and their guardians for an Honor Flight trip. The team that won the Scavenger Hunt even donated back their $250 prize money. There was a representative of the Honor Flight organization there to accept the money and personally thank the Club for their fundraising efforts.
It was a fabulously fun day for a great cause. And the next time you see a group of Harleys cruising down the highway, don't judge a book by it's cover - they just might be on a benefit run!
Photo #1 was taken by my son, Josh Smith, and used with permission. Photo #2 is my own.
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I always like seeing large groups of motorcyclists drive by. A rally sounds like great fun, especially when it is for a great cause.
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It was great fun, it's great when you can bring people together for fun and fellowship and help someone else out in the process.
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That's really a cool charity. It's better to help anyone with cash and help them with all in kindness..
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Thanks @steemflow, and I actually know someone who has gotten to take the Honor Flight, that makes it really cool in my eyes.
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Such a wonderful program, and is this your bike?
The Mrs doesn’t ride but I might be able to convince her with a purple bike.....her favorite color!👍
I need to start somewhere Lol!👍🤗
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@silvertop - actually this isn't my bike. It belongs to my daughter-in-law - her and my son both have one, but Josh's isn't purple. I sold my brown and gold Harley a couple of years ago after rotator cuff surgery. But I can take hers for a spin any time I want. Hope you can convince the Mrs - its such a blast.
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I’m working on it Lol...😊
My next door neighbor is a retired pastor that rides a 1,000 cc.
I thought it was a Harley, really sounded like one.....
I believe it’s a Harley copy cat Honda!🤔
Nice to see a pastor that is “real”.....
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Yes, that's so cool. Do you have motorcycle license already? If so, take her to a dealership to "look" and take her for a test ride. She might fall in love with riding!
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She got a chuckle when I read this post!😊
I got my endorsement for motorcycle and three wheel when I was 16 years old.
When we move cross country to Colorado they said you can keep only one!🤔
I didn’t have a three wheeler so I lost that endorsement......🤔
I’m not riding at the moment, maybe I need to fix this!!!🤗
If my next door neighbor the retired pastor reads this ...... I’m in trouble he will drag me to look at a bike!😊
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I didn't know about this. That's a good initiative.
You look rocking on the motorcycle.
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Awww thanks @rem-steem!
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First time I hear about it but I am not Anerucan. Great they do this. 👍💕
P.s. I tried narrative but cannot load the site.
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Hmmm on the link. I just clicked on it on my post and it went right to the site.
https://www.narrative.org/n/flash-fiction should be the right link. Can you let me know if it still doesn't work for you?
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My connection is too slow to load it I think. I will give it another try once. Thanks. Happy Saturday 💕
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What a great initiative going to tag @wesphilbin and @jamerussell as i think they will appreciate this blog aswell
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What a great initiative! Love all the deep purple.... :D
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I love motorcycles, and I love this one! Yummy!
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This is awesome! Proof that not all bikers are violent and scary lol
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I do not know about Honor Flight and now I know. It is indeed a good cause. And sounds totally fun too!!! =)
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Thanks for sharing this.
I'm glad that everyone puts in a hand for a great cause.
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Excellent program @blueeyes8960, too bad there is such a backlog of vets on a waiting list, but it's outstanding for a few lucky ones...
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Sounds like a great initiative!
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Wow! You certainly look very cool on that bike my friend.
I also used to be a biker before my accident and nowadays run a non profit charity as you might know.
Your son is indeed a great guy and they do wonderful things for the communities.
Please tell him that we are proud of him and that we Smith's seem to be caring tough guys. Also proud of you for supporting him.
Blessings!
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@papilloncharity - thanks for the compliment and I'll be sure and tell Josh what you said. I know that you do wonderful things as well! I'm sorry that you're unable to ride now after the accident. I don't get to as often as I would like, but it's a type of therapy to get the wind in your face. And helping out a good cause at the same time is even better.
Blessings to you and all your good work as well!
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Thank you and I agree, nothing like being out on a cruise with the wind stroking one's face. How well do I remember the days when helmets were not law and all that we used to wear was a pair of shades. Long hair tied in a pony tail and only a tshirt and jeans.
Glad to see that the guys are doing great things my friend.
Blessings!
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Illinois is still a helmet-free state, one of few remaining.
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Oh, I didn't know this else I would have moved there 20 years ago.
I am too old now to move anywhere.
Blessings!
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Great photo on the purple bike. 😊 Always nice to see benefits such as this.
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Love seeing this @blueeyes8960. It means so much to those veterans being able to visit the war memorials. A wonderful service for our veterans who gave so much for all of us. Blessings
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I am totally familiar with them! It was aimed at the World War ll veterans when the Memorial was built and has been ongoing since. I visit there frequently, conveniently located near the Washington Monument, making it easy to find and having a fair amount of parking.
It is an amazing Memorial and I am so glad so many are getting there.
Also, the many fundraisers being done are so touching to the soul. People have shown they really step up to the plate when needed.
Loved that shot of you in the first pic!! Ride on lady!!! :) Great heartwarming story!
!tip
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Great initiative 👏👏👏
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Great initiative. All the memorials in D.C. are worth a trip to see once for anyone. Veterans, in particular, should visit the nation's capital at least once in their lifetimes and visit all the memorials. They truly are sights to be seen.
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I had not heard of it before but its always refreshing to read about events like this and people giving their time to help raise funds for others
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woot woot, Tammy! you look superb (the 1st pic), bad ass ;-)
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Very cool 💖💖💖👍👍🙏
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🎁 Hi @blueeyes8960! You have received 0.1 STEEM tip from @dswigle!
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Josh got an awesome shot of you! I'm totally envious of your daughter-in-law's sweet ride too!
That's such a wonderful way to do a fundraiser. I told hubby just now about the Honor Flight organization, and he's going to see if there are any activities going on in our area. My father and grandfather (both passed) served, and it would be nice to find a way to give back to their brothers in arms.
Hope you have an amazing weekend, Tammy! 😊
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@traciyork - I'm glad that you learned about Honor Flight and are interested enough to want to participate. My sister-in-law's father got to go on an honor flight and her husband accompanied him as his guardian. It was a wonderful experience for him.
And THANK YOU for putting my post up for a member selected post, you rock!
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Sounds like a great event for a good cause @blueeyes8960
Nice pic too. You look the part! 😁
Gaz
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You look awesome and no way would anyone mess with you lol. The group has a very honorable cause and it is amazing that they do something like this for the veterans. At the same time they really look cool with all those motorcycles.
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That's my favorite color on a Harley @blueeyes8960, this organization is a Godsend, so much great work done by them. 🙏
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This is a really great idea! Help for ex-service members is always a wonderful thing to do. Thank you for sharing!
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