| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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Bikers raise funds for needy
Participants in last Saturday's Fun Run, sponsored by ByRoan's Pocatello Cycle, got to parade through town on their motorcycles with a large group of good friends.
And thanks to their event, 176 turkeys will be donated to needy families in the community, and the residents at the Pocatello Veterans Home have their holiday meals covered for both Christmas and Thanksgiving. The leisure ride helped Jan Matkin and the people at ByRoan's Pocatello Cycle, 260 Yellowstone Ave., raise $4,500 in a single day to buy turkeys and canned goods to give to the Idaho Foodbank Warehouse. Matkin, who co-owns the shop with Byron Roan, said 249 people signed up for the event. Admission for the ride was $10, but most bikers contributed much more. "Donations kept coming in from people, and we did raffles and had an auction," Matkin said, adding a motorcycle paint job and a Rhino truck lining were auctioned off during a post-Fun Run dinner hosted at McDermott's Bar, 1654 N. 1st Ave. "There were so many people, and everybody kept giving. We had people come from as far as Twin Falls, and everybody had a blast doing it. For some reason, they love this run."
The Fun Run passed through the lot at the Pocatello Veterans Home, enabling residents to come outside to clap, wave and cheer. "Those boys, they love the motorcycles," Matkin said.
Matkin was born and raised in Pocatello, and she started riding dirt bikes when she was 7. She's found that bikers are some of the most generous people in the community. "When somebody needs something, they're there. They're always there. It doesn't matter what the reason is," Matkin said.
Her brother, Dave Pearson, came up with the idea for the turkey run seven years ago. "We were planning our Thanksgiving family dinner at the time," she said. "He said, 'You know what we need to do is a turkey run.' We want people to be able to sit down and have the kind of meal and have the family time."
The Food Bank has already received enough donated turkeys to cover demand for the Thanksgiving holiday, and its administrator, Roy Lacey, estimates it will take another 1,050 turkeys to cover Christmas for the community's needy, as well. By John O'ConnellPOCATELLO
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