About 100 people take part in Ride for Recovery for Wounded Warrior Project

'They stood up for our freedom. So it's about time somebody starts standing up for them'

July 22, 2012|By JULIE E. GREENE | julieg@herald-mail.com

By Colleen McGrath, Staff Photographer

Approximately 100 people participated in a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project on Sunday that centered around a 75-mile ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., organizer Chad Craig said.

Forty motorcycles and a couple cars took part in the Ride for Recovery, which was sponsored byHarley-Davidsonof Williamsport, Cancun Cantina and 101.5 Bob Rocks, said Craig, who organized the event with his wife, Lisa. The ride began at theHarley-Davidsonshop, and participants were invited to Cancun Cantina for a party afterward, he said.

Ride coordinator Dan Norby said the overcast weather might have prevented some people from joining the ride, which organizers are hoping will become an annual fundraiser to help wounded military members.

“They stood up for our freedom. So it’s about time somebody starts standing up for them,” said Norby, who lives in Martinsburg, W.Va., and served in the Marine Corps in the late 1970s.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a national nonprofit organization that helps wounded service members transition to life after an injury, including assistance finding jobs, peer mentoring, and providing them with information about benefits and resources, according to the project’s website at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Chad Craig said he got the idea to organize the fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project because his friend’s nephew, Cory Remsburg, was injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Jeff Remsburg, 54, of Hagerstown, said Oct. 1 will mark three years since his nephew received a traumatic brain injury from the explosion. Corey Remsburg, an Army ranger who lives in St. Louis, is close to being able to walk again, his uncle said.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Remsburg said of the turnout and support shown for wounded service members on Sunday.

Sunday’s Ride for Recovery raised $2,020 for the Wounded Warrior Project, said Craig, of Shippensburg, Pa. People can still donate to the cause at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Money was raised through the $20 registration fee for the ride and donations, said Craig, who served with the Marine Corps in the late 1980s.

A woman who had been assisting Cory Remsburg was to meet the ride participants at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Craig said.

Kenny Singhas Jr., 50, of Williamsport, said he has visited the memorial several times.

“It’s just a whole different feeling every time you go down and experience it,” Singhas said.

“It’s a privilege to be here today to pay back our military who have served and who are serving now. Just a way to pay them back for their sacrifice, ’cause it wasn’t free. They paid a price,” said Pam Singhas, 50, of Williamsport. “It’s an honor to do something for them when we get a chance.”

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