Denim, leather and a lot of shiny chrome will line the parking lot of the Loews Metroplex Theater on Trotters Way, Freehold Township, on the morning of Oct. 5 as motorcycle riders prepare for the ninth annual Western Monmouth Habitat for Humanity Ride for Affordable Housing.
The riders will be cruising the roads of Monmouth and Ocean counties with a special mission in mind — to raise funds that will be used to build a home for a disabled veteran.
“This year we are taking 100 percent of the profit from the event to build a Habitat house for a disabled veteran,” said James Wishbow, who founded the ride nine years ago. “The event has been very successful all along and for the past two years our profit for the one-day event has been over $45,000. This means that if all goes well, we will come very close in one day to raising enough funds to pay for the building materials for the house.”
Wishbow is a former board member of Western Monmouth Habitat for Humanity and is a motorcycle enthusiast. He said he expects a large turnout of riders. More than 600 riders participated in the event last year.
Habitat for Humanity builds affordable housing for working families. The families help to build their house with “sweat equity.”
Wishbow said the idea for this year’s mission grew out of a motorcycle ride that escorted a soldier who had been wounded in Iraq from Delaware to his home in New Jersey.
Bill Philcox and George Donker, both members of the Jersey Shore Harley Owners Group (HOG) and friends of Wishbow, participated in the ride from Delaware to New Jersey and were moved by the experience of meeting the young man who lost both his legs and four fingers on his left hand and had undergone 15 surgeries.
The riders were part of the Patriot Guard which was formed in 2005. This national motorcycle organization was created to attend funerals of fallen soldiers, to show respect to the soldier’s family and to protect the family from interruptions or protestors at the funeral.
“The intention (of the Patriot Guard) is to establish a nonviolent barrier,” Wishbow explained.
He said the Patriot Guard’s mission has been expanded and now includes escorting injured soldiers who are returning home from the war.
All of the service to veterans eventually came to Wishbow’s attention and he brought the idea of helping a veteran to the Habitat board, which approved the idea of building a house for a disabled veteran who will be chosen by the Habitat for Humanity’s Family Selection Committee.
Wishbow said the veteran who is selected to receive the home will have to meet Habitat’s criteria, which includes being able to pay the mortgage held by Habitat for Humanity. The veteran must be living in substandard housing and be willing to partner with Habitat for sweat equity (time spent working on the home).
Wishbow was part of the Patriot Guard unit that escorted injured U.S. Army 1st Lt. Brian Brennan home from Newark Liberty International Airport to Howell on Sept. 19. He said it was incredible to be a part of that escort.
Anyone who is interested in participating in this year’s Habitat ride may check in and register for the ride between 9- 10:45 a.m. Oct. 5 at the Loews Metroplex Theaters, 101 Trotters Way, at the Freehold Raceway Mall, off Route 537. The 90-minute ride will start at 11 a.m. sharp.
A commemorative ride pin will be given to the first 500 pre-registered participants. Those who pre-register by Oct. 3 will pay $20 for a driver and $10 for a passenger. After Oct. 3 the cost is $25 for the driver and $15 for a passenger.
Participants who raise $50 or more in sponsorship money will receive a special event T-shirt. Participants who raise $100 or more in sponsorship money will receive a Habitat for Humanity sweatshirt and a Tshirt.
Participants who raise $500 or more in sponsorship money will receive a custom denim jacket, a sweatshirt and a T-shirt. Participants who raise $1,000 or more in sponsorship money will receive a custom leather jacket, a sweatshirt and a T-shirt.
For more information, call Tom, 732- 528-7590, or James, 609-259-6459. If the weather is inclement on the day of the ride, call or check the Internet Web site at www.westmonhabitat.org.