Bike club hosts cancer research fundraiser
Jun. 28—Leathered vests, motorcycles and classic car owners lined D Street between 1st and 3rd Street in downtown Marysville on Saturday for the return of the 15th annual The Americans Motorcycle Club Bike and Car Show Strike against Children's Cancer fundraiser.
Local member Doug Henry said the event was back for the first time in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic — returning with a similar premise.
"We are raising money to fight cancer in children, that's where all our proceeds go," Henry said.
There were taco trucks, multiple booths selling memorabilia and a lot of restored vehicles and motorcycles present for show and prizes.
A few of the entries, Henry said, included cars from multiple decades, alongside rock crawlers and roadsters. Each entry paid $25 to either show or have its ride judged by a panel for a prize.
Henry said judging resulted in winners in a variety of classes, as well as a number of specialty prizes.
"All the money goes directly to those kids," he said.
The Americans Motorcycle Club (TAMC), an established nonprofit organization, was started in 1970 in Mexico, but eventually transitioned to a domestic club traveling the country to help raise money for the constant fight of children battling cancer.
According to the history of the club, eight years after opening, TAMC was introduced to a young man by the name of Stephen Kent, who had been fighting a three-year battle with cancer at nine years old.
After several members visited Kent in the hospital and saw first-hand the effect the debilitating illness was having on the boy and his family, it became evident that the focus of the club needed to switch to helping fund cancer research for children.
Henry said the club helps raise money for Yuba-Sutter children and those across multiple areas of Northern California and the western United States.
A lot of the proceeds, he said, are delivered via prepaid Visa cards and gas cards to the UC Davis Arts Department and hospitals in San Francisco, where parents have to go to help treat their cancer patients.
"All the money made will go to that," Henry said.
Henry said donations are accepted year-around by visiting TAMC on Facebook.
The club will return to Yuba-Sutter in the fall to help support other worthy causes like Toys for Tots, Toy Runs and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, according to the club's mission statement.
Henry said the Bike and Car Show Strike against Children's Cancer fundraiser is scheduled to return to downtown Marysville for its 16th edition on the last Saturday in June 2023.
