There is an interesting article out of the US about a group of people who are building motorcycles for disabled veterans. They are starting with two bikes - one will have a sidecar for a vet's service dog and the other will have a cooler incorporated into it as the veteran who will ride it also has multiple sclerosis.
The interesting thing about how this charity drive is being handled is that they are going to corporations instead of the individual rider to raise the funds needed for the first two machines.
Begin Quote: “I’m trying to stay out of the working man’s wallet,” VandenBerg said of the fundraising effort. “Bikers are a bunch of giving people, even if they don’t have the money to give, so I am trying to get bigger corporations to donate to this charity.” End Quote
Every week we discover more veterans who have slipped through the cracks, who have not made a successful transition from their military careers to healthy, productive civilian lives. These veterans are living on the street or at-risk of being homeless. They are unemployed and are trying to cope with mental and physical injuries related to their service without adequate health care and other needed community supports.
The interesting thing about how this charity drive is being handled is that they are going to corporations instead of the individual rider to raise the funds needed for the first two machines.
Begin Quote: “I’m trying to stay out of the working man’s wallet,” VandenBerg said of the fundraising effort. “Bikers are a bunch of giving people, even if they don’t have the money to give, so I am trying to get bigger corporations to donate to this charity.” End Quote
Here in Canada, there is a a group who hope to help find accommodations for homeless veterans and get them the supports they need and deserve.
The group is called VETS - Veterans Emergency Transition Services (V.E.T.S. Canada)
Here is a little backgrounder on who and what VETS is and does - Since early 2011, Veterans Emergency Transition Services (V.E.T.S. Canada), a volunteer-led, registered charity, has been reaching out to homeless and at-risk military veterans across Canada. We are based in the Halifax-Dartmouth area and in the past year and a half our outreach efforts have helped us identify and assist more than 30 homeless veterans in Halifax and throughout Nova Scotia. We have also helped veterans in other Canadian cities using our growing social network of volunteers.Every week we discover more veterans who have slipped through the cracks, who have not made a successful transition from their military careers to healthy, productive civilian lives. These veterans are living on the street or at-risk of being homeless. They are unemployed and are trying to cope with mental and physical injuries related to their service without adequate health care and other needed community supports.
They are competing in the AVIVA Community Fund and are semi finalists in the competition - voting begins again on December 3rd..
It is my hopes that you will consider voting for this very worthy cause.
The news feeds have been pretty quiet - it is after all that time of year when things slow down a bit unless you are a Hells Angel.
In BC the Hells Angels are under siege and are at risk of loosing their clubhouses to either the Federal or Provincial governments as both arms of the government are going after them.
Today I owe an apology to Liane Langlois of the Kootenay Rat Raid - apparently I was not supposed to print their sponsorship request letter in this weeks Busted Knuckle Chronicles that was emailed out to subscribers yesterday.
According to Langlois, the efforts of the group are not to necessarily increase attendance but to keep the ambiance their attendees have come to appreciate. I had no way of knowing that and had thought that I was supporting them by printing their sponsorship request information. I receive many such letters from groups that do want to increase their attendance and their sponsorship potential. I was wrong to have assumed that Liane and her group wanted my assistance to garner more sponsors or attendees. Apparently all they wanted was for me to consider being their sponsor.
Again - I apologize if I have caused any harm to the Kootenay Rat Raid, please know that my intentions were to do good, not harm.
As an FYI to all groups who send stuff into me - if you do not want it printed in our community newspaper - PLEASE say so in your email - with all of the emails that I deal with every day - your doing that will help me so much than you could ever know! I never want to upset or disappoint people.
I leave you with a few funnies shared with me by friends on Facebook and through emails...laughter, I really need some laughter today....
I hope you all have a great weekend, and for my American friends - don't get hurt while shopping at Black Friday events - K...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
It is my hopes that you will consider voting for this very worthy cause.
The news feeds have been pretty quiet - it is after all that time of year when things slow down a bit unless you are a Hells Angel.
In BC the Hells Angels are under siege and are at risk of loosing their clubhouses to either the Federal or Provincial governments as both arms of the government are going after them.
Today I owe an apology to Liane Langlois of the Kootenay Rat Raid - apparently I was not supposed to print their sponsorship request letter in this weeks Busted Knuckle Chronicles that was emailed out to subscribers yesterday.
According to Langlois, the efforts of the group are not to necessarily increase attendance but to keep the ambiance their attendees have come to appreciate. I had no way of knowing that and had thought that I was supporting them by printing their sponsorship request information. I receive many such letters from groups that do want to increase their attendance and their sponsorship potential. I was wrong to have assumed that Liane and her group wanted my assistance to garner more sponsors or attendees. Apparently all they wanted was for me to consider being their sponsor.
Again - I apologize if I have caused any harm to the Kootenay Rat Raid, please know that my intentions were to do good, not harm.
As an FYI to all groups who send stuff into me - if you do not want it printed in our community newspaper - PLEASE say so in your email - with all of the emails that I deal with every day - your doing that will help me so much than you could ever know! I never want to upset or disappoint people.
I leave you with a few funnies shared with me by friends on Facebook and through emails...laughter, I really need some laughter today....
And for all you Black Friday Shoppers:
I hope you all have a great weekend, and for my American friends - don't get hurt while shopping at Black Friday events - K...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
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