 Santa leads the parade of nearly 200 motorcyles that made their way to HAC’s Carriage House shelter last month. |
Ariana and her nine-month-old daughter had only been at Carriage House for a little more than a month when nearly 200 motorcyclists delivered over $3,000 worth of toys to the North Falmouth shelter on the first Sunday of November.
“This means a lot,” she said. “I feel like for the kids, Christmas is really important.”
The Chris Wetherbee Memorial Toy Run gives children in HAC’s four family shelters – Carriage House; Angel House in Hyannis; the Village at Cataumet in Bourne; and Scattered Sites in Hyannis – an opportunity to experience the joy of the holidays thanks to the generosity of the bikers who participate in the annual event.
The toy run started 29 years ago as a way to spread some holiday cheer to children in shelter. In 1999, it was named in honor of Joe Wetherbee’s first wife Christina, an organizer of the event, who died of cancer the following spring. Joe and his second wife Clarissa continue to hold the event every year with the support of the Cape Cod Harley Owners Group.
“All of these bikers have come together today for these kids and their families to let each and every one of them know that because they are here… doesn’t mean that they’re forgotten. Because they are not,” an emotional Clarissa told those in attendance who came from as far away as Boston and Rhode Island to participate in the event which also raised nearly $3,000 for HAC’s housing programs. “They will have clothes on their back at Christmas and for their birthdays, and they will have toys, and they will have love.”
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