AVON —
The American Legion Riders from Wayne Post 64 came together with other area posts to help raise funds for Susie’s Place, a child advocacy center in Avon.
The post was represented by five riders in the third annual Charity Ride for Susie’s Place held Saturday. Last year, the ride was taken over and planned by riders from the Avon and Danville posts.
Linda Cook, a rider from the Danville Post, and Bob Mullins, from the Avon post, were co-chairs of the event this year. They reached out to other area posts for support.
Jim and Cheri Allen of Danville have been members of the Wayne Legion Riders for about a year. Cheri is a member of the Danville Auxiliary with Cook.
“Linda shared with me about Susie’s Place and I took it to a riders’ meeting at the Wayne post,” Allen said. “She then came out and gave a presentation.”
The Wayne Legion Riders pitched in a $250 sponsorship to help this year’s event and committed to bring some riders.
One of the riders from Post 64 that participated was Mike Beck, a Westside resident.
“This was a good experience,” Beck said. “This was for a good cause so I thought I would come out. I will absolutely do it again.”
The ride raised just more than $7,000 for Susie’s Place, which is going through some growing pains.
“We are so grateful for the big push of donations at the end that got us over the $7,000 mark,” said Emily Perry, executive director of Susie’s Place. “We couldn’t do what we do without the help of the community.”
Susie’s Place is a child advocacy center that has trained forensic interviewers who help children tell their stories. The interviewers talk to the children about a variety of issues including physical abuse, witnessing a violent crime, and most often sexual abuse.
Susie’s Place was first opened in Avon just over three years ago. In 2011, the board of directors opened a second location in Bloomington. The agency has outgrown its Avon facility, has secured a new center, and is in the process of moving to a space three times larger than what they have now.
Allen said hearing about everything going on at Susie’s Place made the Wayne Legion Riders want to jump on board and help.
“The Wayne Post donates about $20,000 back to the community each year,” Allen said. “It’s a great group of people and we love that they give all that back out to the community.”
Post 64 will be having some visitors next month has it helps to host the 94th American Legion National Convention.
“There are going to be thousands of people heading to Post 64,” Allen said. “The grounds will be filled with campers. It’s going to be huge. And a lot of work.”
The convention is Aug. 24-30 in Indianapolis.
The Wayne Post of the American Legion is at 601 Holt Road. The post commander is Glen Hawkins. For more information about the national convention, visit the website at www.legion.org.
brenda.holmes@flyergroup.com
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