Local Motorcycle Club Holding Benefit for Injured Teen

By Jed Blackwell A newly-formed motorcycle club is making community service its first item of business. Foothills Thunder Motorcycle Club is sponsoring a benefit ride and community event for a Chapman High School student injured in an October car accident. The “Ride for Chelsey” to benefit Chelsey Mitchell will be held on April 19 beginning at 2 p.m. The community event will begin that day at 10, as riders and supporters gather at Chapman High School in advance of the ride. Club president and Inman Police Chief Glenn Henderson thinks the event will strike a nerve with the community. “We’ve been planning for about four weeks,” Henderson said. “Things are really starting to pick up, and there seems to be an interest in the event.” Henderson said that community service was a priority for the club. “We want to give back to the community anywhere and any way that we can help,” he said. “Our motto is “open hearts - open roads.. We want to do rides as a club, but we also want to help the community. We decided we wanted to help the Mitchell family because of the tremendous costs they’ve incurred with Chelsey’s injuries.” The route for the April 19 ride hasn’t been determined yet, but several other areas of the event have been nailed down. The day’s festivities will include a bake sale, a raffle, prize austions, live music, and a d.j., in attition to a hot dog and hamburer sale. “We want people to come out and enjoy themselves before the ride, and stay and have fun after the ride,” Henderson said. “We’ve scheduled the event from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and we’re only going to be riding about an hour and a half of that time.” The club is depending on donations for prizes, and Henderson said all money generated will go directly to the Mitchell family. “We won’t keep anything,” he said. He noted that raffle prizes and auction prizes were still being sought. “We’re looking for articles to give away or to auction off,” he said. “We’re hoping that local businesses will help us out with the prizes.” As an incentive, the club is having T-shirts printed commemorating the ride. Any donation of $100 or more entitles that donor to a spot on the back of the T-shirt. “The shirts will be for sale at the event the day of the ride,” Henderson explained. There are also several raffle items in place, including items from Clemson University, the University of Georgia, and the Phoenix Racing Team. Henderson said that riders were still needed for the event, but stressed that community participation was vital. “This is not just an event for riders,” he said. “This is a community event. We want people to come out and eat, bid in the auction, just look at the motorcycles, or whatever they want to do. It’s a community event.” Donations for the event are being accepted at Inman City Hall from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.