Craven and friends generate $185,000 in cold cash

by: Jeff Carpenter

GREENVILLE Maine (Jan. 27, 2003) - With the day's high temperature only in the single digits, over 500 riders participated in the sixth annual Ricky Craven Charity Snowmobile Ride. Through the generous support of all these folks, Ricky Craven was able to generate over $185,000 for the various charities supported by the Ride.

In all there are five charities that each received $35,000 in donations from the event: The Marrow Foundation, the international leader in the facilitation of unrelated marrow and blood stem cell transplantation; Children's Miracle Network, an International non-profit organization dedicated to helping children by raising funds and awareness for 170 children's hospitals throughout North America; The Make-A-Wish Foundation, a foundation that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses in order to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy; The Travis Roy Foundation, a foundation designed to help with care and research for victims of paralysis, created on behalf of Travis Roy who was paralyzed in his first shift in his first college hockey game; Give Kids the World, a charity that allows children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to stay in a special village and enjoy the many Central Florida theme parks and attractions. Additional donations were made to Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club and to the Greenville school system.

Individual riders pay $125 each to take the 60-mile ride through the hills east of Moosehead Lake and join Craven for breakfast, lunch and an autograph session. Corporations and businesses also contribute thousands toward the ride. Craven talked about the success of he ride, "Once again we had another spectacular ride. This is one of the most enjoyable things I do each year. To see nearly 750 riders, volunteers and friends gather in my home state of Maine in absolutely freezing weather to help me support these deserving charities makes me feel very special."

In the six years that the ride has taken place, Craven has donated over $560,000 to these charities. Craven has had a little extra time to spend reminiscing about this year's ride as the blowing and drifting snow shut down the local airport and delayed his return to North Carolina. "We just put a few more logs on the fire and talked about how we can make the ride even better next year," said Craven on the snowstorm that allowed him to spend an extra day in his home state.