Motorcyclists raise money to help Putnam needy

By BRIAN J. HOWARD
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: September 26, 2005)

To learn more
For more information about the Putnam Community Action Program
• call 845-278-8021, Ext. 17, • or visit www.putnamcap.org.

Chris York of Southeast was the first rider to return yesterday from an 80-mile tour across Putnam, Dutchess and Fairfield counties.

And as Putnam's chief assistant district attorney sunk his teeth into a hamburger under the pavilion at Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park, he said he was glad to help a good cause while doing something he loves.

"I'd be out here riding anyway, so it's like killing two birds with one stone," York said of the Putnam Community Action Program's inaugural Motorcycle Ride for HOPE. "I'm sure if more people knew the good things they do, there would be more people out here supporting them."

Chipping in for charity is nothing new for local motorcycle clubs, which have held benefit rides for a variety of groups, including Westchester Medical Center, Vassar Hospital, the March of Dimes and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Echoing York, several of the dozens of riders said yesterday that riding for a good cause just added to the pleasure of riding.

It also lets the public see the sometimes-misunderstood motorcycle community in a positive light, James "Jimmy Dee" DeRosario of Carmel said.

DeRosario, who owns a barbershop in Mahopac, and his wife, Debbie, organized the Gold Star Motorcycle Ride, which raised money in May for a monument to mothers of soldiers killed in action, and the United Ride, to mark 9/11. The latter raised $1,500 for the Putnam Community Action Program to buy school supplies for children of low-income families.

"It's not the motorcycle ride, it's the people," DeRosario said. "The motorcycle community, they know how to raise money."

And Rosemarie Bahr is grateful. The director of Putnam CAP said people in an affluent county like Putnam don't always realize how many people are in need. Of 96,000 county residents, 5.9 percent live below the poverty level.

Her program provided services to 2,517 people last year. Besides offering food pantries and soup kitchens, the organization also gives Thanksgiving food baskets and Christmas gifts to hundreds of families in need, Bahr said.

As it was, overcast weather and competing events put a crimp in yesterday's ride. Still, as riders rolled in, they spoke enthusiastically about the tour. Not even a little rain in Dutchess County could put a damper on the day, said Ed McAvoy, membership officer for the club Lost Wheels.

"This was a successful tour," McAvoy said after dismounting his silver Harley-Davidson, "because we got a lot of good people and a good cause."