Any excuse to escape the fetid swamp that is DC in the Summer is good enough, a fundraiser for wounded vets is a no brainer. My karma can always use some help. I work with the Warrior Legacy Foundation and this past weekend we held a motorcycle ride in Maine to raise money for our Wounded Heroes program. This helps these troops transition to civilian life and the great folks on this team will do pretty much anything needed to help make sure these folks get whatever they need. They helped fill fuel oil tanks this Winter, gave rides to any number of appointments, and basically served as a safety net for our wounded warriors. The inspiration was when our team leader Pam Payeur watched her own son try to get all the facets of his life in order after getting wounded and leaving the service. It is hard enough to do this under normal circumstances, Pam saw the difficulties her son faced, pulled her Mom card and decided that he could use some help and so could all the rest of our wounded.
The fun part is doing a fundraiser with about 500 motorcycles and a lot of great sponsors. It started at the Maine Veteran’s Home where some of the residents were presented with donated gift bags and ended at Bentley’s Saloon near the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport for some festivities. One of the sponsors is an amazing company based in Maine called Howe and Howe Technologies. If the name rings a bell you may have seen their amazing Ripsaw vehicle on TV or their reality show on the Discovery Channel. They brought a couple of their newest maniacal machines out to play and they stole the show. The Badger is an all-terrain armored vehicle for law enforcement and bomb disposal, but the true evil genius came in the form of the Mini Rip. Take an 850cc motorcycle engine, two tracks then stand on top to go pretty much anywhere you want to. They will eventually make it unmanned or armor it up and add armaments to create a personal tank. Need I say more. Here is some footage of the Mini Rip tearing up the parking lot and a look at the Badger from H&H welder Dee.
It was a great time for a great cause and we are taking the Wounded Heroes program national. If you want to help you can do so here. Thanks to Howe and Howe and all of the sponsors and riders.