Kind-hearted bikers give food to the needy

Off the Wire
MCs in the News

Dozens of choppers revved through the North County highways as the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club held its bi-annual food run Friday in Calipatria and Niland.

Members of the Imperial Valley chapter of the 63-year-old Hollister-based bike club lent their leather-clad helping hands to the less-fortunate of these communities in an effort to give back to the community, said the Imperial Valley club president Armando Lopez.

“We just want to help the community,” Lopez said. “Bikers always get a bad name but we’re not here to break any laws. We want to show that bikers care and that the Top Hatters are very interested in working with anyone that wants to work with us to give something back.”

Lopez said the Top Hatters also hold a food run in November for the needy of Westmorland and Seeley. This event, he said, is done in conjunction with the Calipatria Unified School District. The event coordinator, Chris Hawkins, not only works for the school district as a school psychologist but is also buddies with some of the bikers.

“We’ve had three of these so far,” Hawkins said, who is also the event coordinator and a psychologist for the Imperial County Office of Education. “We’ve heard that there are some families where the kids are skipping supper because there’s not enough food. When I heard that I wanted to do something about it.

“I asked the guys if they wanted to do it and they said, ‘If you coordinate it we’ll do it,’ and here we are,” he said. “It’s a little way to help the less-fortunate in our community. There’s a lot of need up here.”

“We try to help the needy,” chimed in Top Hatters state president Raymond Alnas of the Hollister area of California.

The smiling faces of the needy of these communities also expressed their thanks.

“It’s such a blessing for them to come help us out in our time of need,” Calipatria resident Catondra Reagan said. “It really helps,” she said.

>> Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it