While many motorcycle-themed charity events are born when a club chooses a cause, Alternatives Inc. in Raritan, N.J., sought out the motorcyclists.

Alternatives Inc. plans and directs the AMA-sanctioned Dignity Run, which attracts riders and clubs to raise money for programs and services for people experiencing mental challenges, individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury and homeless children.

Anita Feiner, director of development, and Glori Bine-Callagy, director of intake and admissions, said several of the organization’s staff members ride or are the spouses of riders, and that the region around Raritan is motorcycle country.

They said there isn’t a weekend that goes by without motorcycles streaming through the town.

After a few years of discussion about hosting a motorcycle event, one of Alternatives Inc.’s executives, Fresia Skoczypec, led the effort to stage the first Dignity Run event in 2015.

Feiner and Bine-Callagy said that, while the first event attracted about 50 participants, the organization believed there was more potential.

Skoczypec attended a meeting of AMA District 2 in 2015. There she met AMA Charter Life Member Kenny Andrejewski. He encouraged Skoczypec to work with the AMA to sanction and promote the event.

She said getting the event on the AMA calendar increased the event’s visibility and led to the event’s continued growth.

The 2018 edition of the event on Oct. 14 attracted about 300 motorcyclists. The escorted ride took participants through Somerset and Hunterdon counties. The event also featured vendors and a chance to win prizes.

Feiner and Bine-Callagy said the Dignity Run events have opened their eyes to how misunderstood and how generous the motorcycling community is.

“It is a fantastic group of people,” Feiner said. “We need more groups like those motorcycle clubs in the nonprofit world.”

 

Their advice to other nonprofits considering taking the lead on such an event: Have an ambassador who can speak for both organizations. They credit Alternatives Inc.’s staff riders as a big reason for the Dignity Run’s success.

“That person needs to know both audiences and understand the needs of charitable nonprofits,” she said.