Bikers with big hearts make run to Maricopa

“Bet you thought your town had been taken over by Hell’s Angels, didn’t you?” one of the riders in the 23rd annual W. Steven Martin Police Toy Run asked inmaricopa.com.

The 400 motorcycles in Maricopa, mostly in the parking lot adjacent to their host, Native New Yorker, were, undoubtedly, the largest number of bikes ever seen in town at one time.

These bikers with big hearts began their run at 10 a.m. in Chandler at Harley Davidson and rode in a two-mile procession from there to Maricopa, escorted by DPS and Maricopa MPD. Unfortunately, a collision involving one rider and two MPD officers occurred near Riggs Road on the way into town just before 11 a.m. (see related story).

According to organizer W. Steven Martin, in the 21 years police and fire departments have been involved, this was the first such incident. He noted that the riders travel at only about 40 mph.

Participants in this annual event are police officers, DPS, motorcycle clubs and many veterans, plus anyone who has a motorcycle, likes to ride and wants to help out for a good cause. Each rider pays a $10 registration fee, which includes lunch, and each brings a toy.

The toys, which were collected and stored in the W.Steven Martin Police Toy Run trailer outside Native New Yorker, are destined for underprivileged children all over the Valley.

Some of the same participants who rode in Sunday’s toy run also sponsor Clothes for Kids to benefit children attending the Thomas J. Pappas School in Phoenix, which educates children of the homeless. “We’re pretty low key,” said one of the sponsors. “We just do it because these kids are the poorest of the poor.”

Toy run participants were scheduled to ride back to Chandler in another escorted procession around 6 p.m. Sunday.

Photos by Joyce Hollis