For The Press and Standard
This past weekend, Colleton County ABATE held its first annual “Ride for Supplies” event. This event was put together in coordination with the Colleton County Sheriff’s office and their Outreach/Community Events coordinator, Cpl. James Brown. The Sheriff’s office will be hosting their “Back to School Bash” this August, where school aged children in the county will receive free school supplies. This Motorcycle Run included a nod to the TV show, “Are you smarter than a fifth grader” since it was to raise money & supplies for the Colleton County school children. Participants were given a “score card” with six different categories, and then rolled a die to see which category they would get at each stop. The first one back with all categories (or the most) was the winner of a $100 prize. At the end of the event, there was food for all participants and volunteers as well as raffles. At the end of the day, the event raised $374 for Cpl. Brown and his “Back to School Bash.”
If you missed the event and would like to help, don’t worry, you still can. There are collection boxes at the following locations, where you can drop off items such as pencils, pens, notebooks, highlighters, colored pencils, and any other school supplies the children may need. You can drop them off at; USC Salkehatchie, 807 Hampton Street in Walterboro (reception area), Good Finds Gun Shop at 266 Wichman St, Walterboro, and Kalee’s Hair 658 Bells Highway Walterboro.
Colleton County ABATE is now working on their “Christmas in July, Jingle Ball Run” also in coordination with the sheriff’s department and their Toy Drive for this December. They are currently looking for donations, sponsorships, and vendors for this event to be held Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Cottageville on Highway 61 at Bourbon Creek Bar & Grill. If you are interested, please contact Tricia Nesmith at colcountabate@gmail.com for more information.
Colleton County ABATE Coordinator, Ken Bahrenburg said, “Our goal as a club is to help our community and give back, not just to support biker rights. Which is why I reached out to Cpl. Brown to see what we could do to help. It’s an honor to work with him and help support the county we live in.” Colleton County ABATE events/pr/social media coordinator, Tricia Nesmith said, “Bikers look for a reason to ride, and we are a brotherhood regardless of what clubs we may be associated with. We all look out for each other, so it made sense that our focus within our chapter is to give back to our community since the biker “community” has the numbers to really do something good and make a difference. I am looking forward to our Christmas in July being an even bigger success, but it will take other businesses and organizations within our county to also step up and help too. That is why we are looking for vendors, sponsorships etc....to make this event a huge one and raise the most money and collect the most gifts for the Colleton County Sheriff’s toy drive yet. The more money and toys they collect and raise, the more children and families within Colleton County can be helped. Holidays are a tough enough time already for families, this takes some stress off their shoulders. Even though he helped a lot of families and children last year, our goal is to at least double that number this year. But we need the help of others within our county and in the surrounding counties to make that happen.”
