Annual 24-hour Ride Delivers for Shriners Children’s

Earlier this year, 25 motorcycle riders led by the Iron Knights left Savannah, Georgia, to rumble 1,000 miles in 24 hours. The goal? To deliver a donation check of over $30,000 to Shriners Children’s in Greenville, South Carolina.

To ride that far in one day, you don’t stop very much – gas when necessary, maybe two or three rest stops.

“It’s a very tough thing we do,” said Duane Bartels, vice president of the Alee Shriners Iron Knights. “We ride 1,000 miles in 24 hours, nonstop, in part to remind ourselves a little bit about how hard it is for some of these children and what they go through.”

The concept was adopted from an American Motorcycle Association 1,000-miles-in-a-day trek, promoted as an “Iron Butt” ride. However, the Iron Knights event has a higher purpose: to help Shriners Children’s and the patients it serves.

Bartels said the Alee Shriners Iron Knights unit-led ride is notable because it so strongly demonstrates the essence of the organization – a group of men who enjoy fun and fellowship and are defined by a dedication to philanthropy.

“Our ride reflects that duality of activities that epitomizes the Shriners,” said Bartels.

The route for the ride took the group down from Savannah through Mobile, Alabama, and then through Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee, to arrive in Greenville at the same time they left the previous day – 5 p.m.

Bartels and his daughter, Bella, who is a Shriners Children’s patient, went on a local morning television show in Savannah a week before departure, and even more donations than they expected poured in.

One gift of $6,000 came from an 86-year-old man who said that he wanted what little he could spare to go toward something important.

Bartels said there is a feature that was unexpected when these rides were initially conceived. Many who sign up for the ride come bearing a burden and seeking catharsis by getting outside themselves and doing things for others. Many are looking for connection as well.

Whatever the reason, this feature of the rides is undeniable. On one ride, for instance, a rider had just recently lost his daughter in a traffic accident. Another had lost a daughter and his wife in a traffic accident. It turned out to be the same accident. What happened next? During the ride, they bonded in their grief.

This was the 13th annual ride. Every year, the ride ends at a different Shriners Children’s location. In the early days, it was still paper maps and prayers for a nearby gas station when the red gas lights came on. These days, the entire route is plotted with precision and ridden by someone beforehand. With electronic devices, they even know what the weather has in store for every part of the trip and can plan accordingly.

Bartel’s daughter Bella, 12, has osteogenesis imperfecta (OI, or brittle bone disease). Her condition is so rare that her family can not find the expertise she needs in Savannah. But OI isn’t rare to the experienced specialists at Shriners Children's. Now Bella and her family travel to Shriners Children’s Chicago at least twice a year for injections that help improve her bone density.

Bartels said riders join the trip for all sorts of reasons, from the adventure and camaraderie to a desire to support the philanthropy. But he is certain that when men choose to become Shriners, Shriners Children's and its mission loom large in their motivation.