The holidays are a time when people seem to give the most generously of themselves in so many ways. Unfortunately, the need continues to exist for people and organizations everywhere, even after the calendar turns over a new leaf. After the gifts are all unwrapped, and the colored lights are packed away until next year, there is still plenty of time and plenty of necessity for those who wish to give of themselves. Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's time, sometimes it's a hand or an ear or a voice. This week we will talk to a variety of people who are giving in some way, or making it possible for others to do so. So spread the word, share the information, and by all means if you possibly can... give!
WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND THE NAME OF YOUR CHARITY?
"My name's Dave "Bear" Scheuring. The name of the organization is Hogs and Heroes Foundation. I'm the President of the PA2 chapter."
WHAT DOES HOGS AND HEROES BENEFIT?
"It was set up to benefit first responders (police, firefighters, EMS) and the military."
WHAT DO THEY DO FOR THEM?
"We hold events to try and raise money to donate to other charities that benefit these folks. We're a 501C3 organization. We can donate directly to other 501C3 organizations. We go out and find those organizations that do things more directly for the welfare of first responders and military and raise money for them. The way the laws work for non profits, we can't donate directly to a single person, we have to donate to larger organizations. Then it's up to the charities we donate to to decide where the money goes. For instance, we just did a crab cake dinner to raise money for an organization called Operation Homefront. What they do is take care of the families of currently deployed military. They'll do things like buy a new transmission for a car of the wife of a deployed gentleman cause she's gotta take kids back and forth and work. We found them recently. We look for organizations that coincide with our mission and work hand in hand with them."
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GET INVOLVED WITH HOGS AND HEROES?
"Personally, I was looking for something to do with a motorcycle organization. I fell upon this when I went to a beef and beer, at this chapter, for a military vet that got injured in a motorcycle accident. I was just going to be supportive of their efforts and ended up talking to the folks that were running the chapter at the time. It seemed like a great opportunity for me to belong to something that both involved the motorcycle aspect as well as a charitable organization of something I believed in."
HOW LONG AGO DID YOU GET INVOLVED?
"About a year ago."
HOW DID YOU WIND UP PRESIDENT OF THE CHAPTER AFTER ONLY A YEAR?
"There was a lot of turnover. Some people left due to moving out of state and it left some vacancies in the structure of the organization and I ended up being appointed Vice President of the chapter relatively quickly after I joined based on recommendations from friends of mine that were in the organization. The term of our President was up in December and I guess some of the folks that have gotten to know me over the last year or so came to like the things I'm trying to do with the organization. I was nominated in November and voted into the position in December."
"My name's Dave "Bear" Scheuring. The name of the organization is Hogs and Heroes Foundation. I'm the President of the PA2 chapter."
WHAT DOES HOGS AND HEROES BENEFIT?
"It was set up to benefit first responders (police, firefighters, EMS) and the military."
WHAT DO THEY DO FOR THEM?
"We hold events to try and raise money to donate to other charities that benefit these folks. We're a 501C3 organization. We can donate directly to other 501C3 organizations. We go out and find those organizations that do things more directly for the welfare of first responders and military and raise money for them. The way the laws work for non profits, we can't donate directly to a single person, we have to donate to larger organizations. Then it's up to the charities we donate to to decide where the money goes. For instance, we just did a crab cake dinner to raise money for an organization called Operation Homefront. What they do is take care of the families of currently deployed military. They'll do things like buy a new transmission for a car of the wife of a deployed gentleman cause she's gotta take kids back and forth and work. We found them recently. We look for organizations that coincide with our mission and work hand in hand with them."
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GET INVOLVED WITH HOGS AND HEROES?
"Personally, I was looking for something to do with a motorcycle organization. I fell upon this when I went to a beef and beer, at this chapter, for a military vet that got injured in a motorcycle accident. I was just going to be supportive of their efforts and ended up talking to the folks that were running the chapter at the time. It seemed like a great opportunity for me to belong to something that both involved the motorcycle aspect as well as a charitable organization of something I believed in."
HOW LONG AGO DID YOU GET INVOLVED?
"About a year ago."
HOW DID YOU WIND UP PRESIDENT OF THE CHAPTER AFTER ONLY A YEAR?
"There was a lot of turnover. Some people left due to moving out of state and it left some vacancies in the structure of the organization and I ended up being appointed Vice President of the chapter relatively quickly after I joined based on recommendations from friends of mine that were in the organization. The term of our President was up in December and I guess some of the folks that have gotten to know me over the last year or so came to like the things I'm trying to do with the organization. I was nominated in November and voted into the position in December."
IS THERE ANY ONE EXPERIENCE THAT HAS STOOD OUT TO YOU SO FAR?
"Yes, there is. One of the things we do is moral support capacity (in addition to fundraising capacity) that we call escorts. We will escort young military folks on leave from the airport to home. There's a situation where they take veterans from this area down to Washington to visit the memorials. When they were coming home, I was involved, with about 200 other motorcyclists, in escorting them from Delaware state line to Springfield, PA where they were meeting for a dinner on their way home. It was a humbling experience to travel on the Blue Route, which was shut down in order for us to escort WWII vets and their families. To see the support from fire companies at every overpass, the support of other motorists on the road on the other side... Personally, I had an experience with a gentleman that had gotten off the bus. He took the time to come over and shake my hand and thank us for what we had done that day, which was very humbling cause all I had done was ride a motorcycle which is something I love to do on any given day. What these gentleman had done years ago in their lives for us to be able to live the lives that we live...for them to come thank us is a wonderful feeling. It's was the one time that solidified me knowing that the decision I made in joining this organization was the right one."
CAN PEOPLE GET INVOLVED IN THIS ORGANIZATION IF THEY AREN'T MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS?
"The organization was started by a gentleman that was a motorcycle rider, but we have different classes of members in every chapter. There's a full member, a riding member and we also have associate members who are non-riding members that want to belong to the organization and be hands on doing what we do, and we have junior members who are under 18 that want to get involved early. Whether you ride or not, you're welcome to join the organization. There are some positions within the organization that you have to be a motorcycle rider to hold. Our chapter is split up about 60/40 of riders and non-riders. So basically anyone that wants to be involved can be. We're always looking to expand. Currently there's 3 chapters in Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Delaware County, and my chapter in Montgomery County based out of Bridgeport) and we would love to have a number more. There are things that have to happen in order to start a chapter. You have to have a certain number of people and riders to start the chapter. They can certainly contact me and I can get them in touch with the right people to do that."
DO YOU HAVE ANY EVENTS COMING UP YOU'D LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT?
"We're in the works of putting together a blood drive that we're hoping to do on February 28 which would be held in Conshohocken. There will be more information after this week about that. It'll be on our website as well as our Facebook page."
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD GET INVOLVED IN THIS ORGANIZATION?
"Take a look at the way the world's going, not only in our area but nationwide, with our first responders and our military and notice there's a need. These folks have needs and they need some support from people. If that's something that drives you and you have strong feelings for, this is certainly one of the many organizations you can get involved in to put some action behind those feelings."
To learn more check out these sites. Please be patient, someone will respond as quickly as possible.
www.hogsheroesfoundation.com (main site)
www.hogsandheroespa2.com (Dave's local chapter)
You can also link to Hogs and Heroes pa2 on Facebook.
"Yes, there is. One of the things we do is moral support capacity (in addition to fundraising capacity) that we call escorts. We will escort young military folks on leave from the airport to home. There's a situation where they take veterans from this area down to Washington to visit the memorials. When they were coming home, I was involved, with about 200 other motorcyclists, in escorting them from Delaware state line to Springfield, PA where they were meeting for a dinner on their way home. It was a humbling experience to travel on the Blue Route, which was shut down in order for us to escort WWII vets and their families. To see the support from fire companies at every overpass, the support of other motorists on the road on the other side... Personally, I had an experience with a gentleman that had gotten off the bus. He took the time to come over and shake my hand and thank us for what we had done that day, which was very humbling cause all I had done was ride a motorcycle which is something I love to do on any given day. What these gentleman had done years ago in their lives for us to be able to live the lives that we live...for them to come thank us is a wonderful feeling. It's was the one time that solidified me knowing that the decision I made in joining this organization was the right one."
CAN PEOPLE GET INVOLVED IN THIS ORGANIZATION IF THEY AREN'T MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS?
"The organization was started by a gentleman that was a motorcycle rider, but we have different classes of members in every chapter. There's a full member, a riding member and we also have associate members who are non-riding members that want to belong to the organization and be hands on doing what we do, and we have junior members who are under 18 that want to get involved early. Whether you ride or not, you're welcome to join the organization. There are some positions within the organization that you have to be a motorcycle rider to hold. Our chapter is split up about 60/40 of riders and non-riders. So basically anyone that wants to be involved can be. We're always looking to expand. Currently there's 3 chapters in Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Delaware County, and my chapter in Montgomery County based out of Bridgeport) and we would love to have a number more. There are things that have to happen in order to start a chapter. You have to have a certain number of people and riders to start the chapter. They can certainly contact me and I can get them in touch with the right people to do that."
DO YOU HAVE ANY EVENTS COMING UP YOU'D LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT?
"We're in the works of putting together a blood drive that we're hoping to do on February 28 which would be held in Conshohocken. There will be more information after this week about that. It'll be on our website as well as our Facebook page."
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD GET INVOLVED IN THIS ORGANIZATION?
"Take a look at the way the world's going, not only in our area but nationwide, with our first responders and our military and notice there's a need. These folks have needs and they need some support from people. If that's something that drives you and you have strong feelings for, this is certainly one of the many organizations you can get involved in to put some action behind those feelings."
To learn more check out these sites. Please be patient, someone will respond as quickly as possible.
www.hogsheroesfoundation.com (main site)
www.hogsandheroespa2.com (Dave's local chapter)
You can also link to Hogs and Heroes pa2 on Facebook.
