COLONA, Illinois -- A Colona motorcycle club is hosting a "benefit ride" on Satuday, June 21st, 2019, but you don't have to be a biker to participate. All vehicles are welcome to ride or drive.
It's a small motorcycle club of eight bikers. Out of the eight, three members have lost family to suicide. That's why they made suicide prevention in the Quad Cities their mission.
"Suicide touches everybody, chapter president Gary Shutt said. "Whether you ride a motorcycle, a car, a truck, a bus, a semi, whatever it is, somewhere down the line just about everybody either has had it happen in their family or to friends."
It's the Three River's Chapter of the Forged Alliance riding club. It is their third annual ride to fight suicide.
The ride begins at Grease Monkey's Sports Bar and Grill in Colona.
You can sign in from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. and the last driver can enter the ride at 5 p.m.
You can drive the route at your own pace, but, after the benefit ride, there will be auctions, merchandise, baskets, and raffels.
It's $10 to participate.
Organizers say that is a small price to pay for the impact that could be made.
"Everybody knows about it," Shutt said. "But, nobody wants to talk about it. That's what we are trying to get out there. Tell people that there are places you can get help and you need to talk about it"
There are 4 stops on the 120 mile benefit ride. Riders will stop in Mineral, Cambridge, New Windsor, Milan, and then back to Colona.
In 2018, the chapter raised more than four thousand dollars to local suicide prevention organizations, like SPARK and Quilts of Valor.
