Eighth annual Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride
Eighth annual Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride
New sponsors, a great bike ride and lots of must-have auction items to benefit a good cause promise to make the 8th Annual Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride more exciting than ever.
Join the Bahia Shriners as kickstands go up at 10:30 a.m. March 6 at the temple at 2300 Pembrook Drive in Orlando. The ride begins at the Bahia temple at 2300 Pembrook Drive in Orlando. Those who arrive before 10:30 a.m. will get a free hot breakfast with their registration fee. The 2016 Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride will begin with a 50-mile ride that winds through portions of Orange, Lake and Seminole counties fully escorted by the Florida Highway Patrol, ending at Seminole Harley Davidson in Sanford. The ride also includes a 17-mile stretch through Interstate 4, which the Florida Highway Patrol and Seminole County Sheriff’s officials will shut down just for the participants.
The Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride is the biggest fundraising event held in central Florida benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children® – Tampa. This year, the ride’s proceeds will benefit more than 2,500 active patients from central Florida who receive specialized care from Shriners Hospitals for Children – Tampa.
The ride is named for the late Sam Swope, an auto dealer and philanthropist who also was a Shriner. Noble Swope built a single dealership into the nation’s 69th largest dealership group and donated millions to charities for children, animals and elderly people. In 2009, he helped Bahia Shriners begin the ride that has raised more than $1.5 million for the Tampa Shriners hospital.
Your involvement will help the Shriners open the Tampa Hospital to even more children from central Florida and across the state who need specialized care. Those include Leigh Dittman, a 15-year-old patient who raised more than $1 million for the hospital.
“I’m grateful to everyone that supports this important motorcycle event, these funds are changing lives, like mine at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Tampa,” Leigh said.
After the ride, participants are invited to stay for a free lunch and bid on live and silent auction items, including guitars signed by Kid Rock, the Eagles, the Bellamy Brothers and Kim Betts, as well as pit passes to the 2016 NASCAR race at Homestead-Miami and to the 2017 Daytona 500 and various gift packages.
This year’s ride also picked up new sponsors and celebrity supporters.
“This year, the Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride Committee is proud and excited to welcome financial adviser Michelle Osborne of Wall Street to Main Street as a sponsor,” committee chairman Mitch Lokken said.
Ms. Osborne toured Shriners Hospitals for Children – Tampa in November and learned about the expert specialty care provided regardless of a family’s ability to pay. She knew right away she wanted to get involved and support the ride that has made a difference for Shriners kids.
“We are so happy she has chosen to support the Sam Swope Memorial Charity Ride and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Her energy and passion for riding motorcycles and what she has seen at the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Tampa will help out greatly. We are lucky to have her on our team, and her sponsorship will go a long way into helping children.”
This year’s ride also caught the attention of Leticia Cline, an actress and model who has worked as an interviewer for TNA Wrestling and starred in the reality television series “Beauty and the Geek.” Ms. Cline, a Kentuckian who now lives in the Orlando area, rides with a group called the Iron Lilies and plans to participate in the Sam Swope ride.
“Her knowledge of motorcycles and her passion to be on the road and sometimes even ‘off-road’ is energizing,” Lokken said. “Leticia and her group of riders will be a great addition. Again, I hope you can join us on the ride. Remember ‘we ride so kids can walk.'”