By Ryan Palencer
PLAINFIELD — More than 100 motorcycle riders turned out Saturday to aid the SCI Hope Fund.
Leading the charge for the riders at the Plainfield Eagle Aerie No. 3207 was Steve Pyatte.
“It touches my heart (to see so many riders come out),” Pyatte said. “I feel truly blessed to have the abilities that I have, to have the friends that I have, and to have the family that I have to be able to gather with these wonderful people with such huge hearts to do something for people they don’t know.”
The fund, which is a collaboration with the Hendricks County Community Foundation, began earlier this year. The motivation for the fund began with a spinal cord injury by John Wassen in 2007. With all of the assistance given to Wassen, the fund began to aid others with similar injuries.
“There are people out here who are willing to give,” Pyatte said. “That’s where it comes from, it comes from the heart. When people need, we do what we can to give them what they need.”
Shortly after the accident, friend Jim Tennancour had a vision for raising funds. He said he was very pleased with this year’s ride.
“This is amazing,” Tennancour said. “These people today don’t even know John. Just because they know what we are trying to do to help other people, they come here to try to help us out.”
For Pyatte, who is also Tennancour’s brother-in-law, love and unity was his prime motivation for the ride.
“If I were a millionaire, I would be donating a lot of money,” he said. “But I’m not. I’m not a rich man, but I have love and faith in God that he will see fit to heal people and help us with the research to come up with cures. Not for just spinal cord injuries, but for anything.”
The ride capped a busy weekend for the fund. The day before, there was a golf outing for it.
“The golf outing yesterday was very good,” Tennancour said. “It was a beautiful day weatherwise. It was a great weekend and we are just excited.”
The next big event for the fund is an annual dinner and auction March 20 at Primo Banquet Hall and Conference Center in Plainfield.
Anyone interested in donating to the SCI Hope Fund, can visit the website at www.scihope.org. In addition, Pyatte said if anyone is interested in donating, they can contact him by e-mailing to papaw@papawinc.com or by calling 289-3242.
“If they have questions, if they want to volunteer or sponsor, let us know,” Pyatte said. “We’d be glad to have them.”
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
