The Angels of Hell's Angels

There's no doubt that the motorcycle club Hell's Angels have a bad reputation. They do not trust anyone outside the club, they have been under investigation for drugs, murders, assaults anything you can think of they've been accused of it. But if you look at the amount of charity work they perform, you may think a little differently about them.

Of course, any charity benefit they take part in is always a motorcycle ride to collect money for their targeted recipient. But that's how all charity walks and runs are done. The difference is when you see hundreds of Harley Davidson Motorcycles come roaring into your town it seems a bit more frightening or intimidating than hundreds of soccer moms with running shoes and visors running for breast cancer.

One thing people need to remember is that these club members have families too. Families that are affected by the same diseases and conditions as the rest of us, and they can be passionate about their causes, like us. Their reputation for starting fights and drinking too much is usually not what we see with the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Walk, there's no may lay and the police don't go on alert for these benefits.

But the police always increase in numbers and in some cases you can actually spot SWAT team members when they know the Hell's Angels are in town doing a charity ride. Police presence was increased for the Salvation Army shelter run in Laconia New Hampshire in July of 2006; they raised over $5,000 for the shelter. When the Laconia's Chapter president was asked why he was doing it, he simply said "because we were asked." Again a ride for the MDA telethon from Henderson to the Hoover Dam, 20 motorcycle clubs came together at $25.00 per rider, again raised over $5,000 for Jerry's kids. The SWAT spots didn't seem to bother the riders; they just enjoyed their ride and made their contribution. And just last December the Tucson Chapter sponsored a ride for terminally ill children in Yuma AZ the charity "Catch a Dream" was the recipient of their proceeds. It cost each rider $20.00 to participate, again asked why, "It's for the kids."

So the next time you see a large pool of riders cruising down the street, they just may be doing one of their charity rides to benefit someone you may know in the future. I remember a local man who was not a hell's Angel, but was a Harley Davidson rider. When he died from complications of diabetes; the Niagara Falls Chapter did a ride to benefit Camp Huronda, which is a wilderness camp for diabetic children. At the memorial people were asked for donations to be made to this club in the man's name and they presented them a check for $1,000 US dollars. This raised enough money to send one child to Camp Huronda on the MB scholarship fund.