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Malibu surfside news | September 7, 2017 | 3
Annual motorcycle ride to honor injured warrior’s sacrifice
Donations will go
toward purchasing
truck for U.S. Army
Cpl. Zac Gore
Lauren Coughlin, Editor
The robust rumble of
hundreds of motorcycles
will return to the Pacific
Coast Highway Saturday,
Sept. 10, as the White Heart
Foundation’s Ride to the
Flags X returns.
Bikers will start their
day at 7:30 a.m. at the Naval
Base Ventura County,
where 72 newly pinned naval
chiefs will be honored.
There will also be a 21-gun
salute and a wreath-laying
ceremony. Then, the bikers
will fire up their hogs, and
follow the winding coast
to Malibu’s Bluffs Park,
where a rally will be held.
Along the way, the patriotic
bunch will raise thousands
of dollars for one of
America’s wounded heroes:
U.S. Army Cpl. Zac
Gore, of Connecticut.
Gore, a husband and a father
of four, lost his left arm
and leg when he stepped on
an IED in Afghanistan in
April 2013.
“The least we can do is
get the community to rally
around him and make certain
that he’s taken care
of,” White Heart Executive
Director Ryan Sawtelle
said. “ ... I just think with
the sacrifice that he’s made,
there’s no one more worthy,
especially with a 9/11 event
like this.”
The ride itself is free,
but fundraising is encouraged.
Further, the rally
portion — which includes
vendors, a beer tent and a
door prize of a weeklong
stay in Hawaii — costs $30
for motorcyclists and $20
for the general public. Sawtelle
notes that many of the
current vendors cater to the
motorcycle crowd, but the
nonprofit hopes to expand
its reach in coming years.
“We want to build it up in
the future years so we can
be more inclusive to the
city of Malibu,” Sawtelle
said.
All donations from this
year’s event will go toward
purchasing Gore’s “dream
vehicle,” a 2018 Dodge
Durango, Sawtelle noted.
Sawtelle estimates that
the truck will cost roughly
$45,000, and as of Aug. 31,
White Heart donors had
already footed nearly half
of the bill, with $21,500
raised.
Having just one beneficiary
each year is important
to White Heart, explained
Sawtelle.
“We don’t want ... so
many beneficiaries that we
cast a net so wide that we
cant help anybody,” Sawtelle
said.
Each year, Sawtelle said
White Heart Foundation
picks a new beneficiary
from its “close-knit family
of warriors,” primarily
through personal recommendations
and mutual
connections.
Last year’s ride helped
fund continued construction
and accessibility additions
for U.S. Marine
Corporal Thomas (Caleb)
Getscher’s home in Leonardtown,
Maryland, with
roughly $65,000 raised for
the effort.
Last year’s event saw
600 bikes, and Sawtelle
anticipated that this year’s
may include 700-750 bikers.
Some of those riders
will hail from Vegas, Florida,
New York and Arizona,
Sawtelle noted.
The largest number of
bikes the event can accommodate,
particularly when
it comes to parking on
Malibu Canyon Road for
the rally, he said, is 1,200
bikes.
“The more [riders] we
get, the more funds we’re
raising for Cpl. Gore so I
hope it becomes a problem
that we have too many,”
Sawtelle said.
Bikers who still want to
join in this year’s ride are
still welcome to sign up
— “the more, the merrier,”
Sawtelle said. To register,
visit www.ridetotheflags.
com.
Bikers participating in White Heart Foundation’s Ride to the Flags IX arrive at Malibu’s
Bluffs Park Sept. 11, 2016. This year’s event on Sunday, Sept. 10, will raise funds for
U.S. Army Cpl. Zac Gore. 22nd Century Media File Photo