The 44th Highway Hikers Toy Run, a collaboration between the Highway Hikers motorcycle group and the Springfield Salvation Army, will be held starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“There are a lot of parents struggling to just put food on the table, so thinking of finding the means to put gifts under the tree is completely overwhelming for them. Our mission is to relieve that stress and send a message to these families that our community’s got your back,” said Ryan Ray, development director of the Springfield Salvation Army.
The Toy Run set a record last year for the most motorcycles in attendance at 3,427. This year, more than 3,500 bikes are expected, with some organizers saying they hope to get up to 4,500 motorcyclists.
“We’re Highway Hikers from Medway, and we’re known for the Toy Run ... We do it for the kids of Clark County,” Barron Seelig, chaplin and public relations officer of the Highway Hikers, said. “The mission outweighs the sacrifice.”
This toy run is “paramount” to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Campaign that ensures every child in Clark County gets a present on Christmas morning, Ray said.
Bikers from as far away as Texas and Arizona have joined the event to help deliver Christmas to Clark County. The route begins at the VFW 9684 Medway post, 1587 Lake Road, New Carlisle, and the procession travels from there to the fairgrounds. There, the Salvation Army staff meet the Highway Hikers for the cash and toy donations.
“As long as there’s a need for kids to have Christmas, the Highway Hikers will have a toy run,” Seelig said.
The bikers plan for months in advance, beginning virtually after the event ends, Seelig said, noting things “get really intense” the last four months before the Toy Run.
“It takes a lot to plan them,” he said. “And this year is really taxing. Times are hard, people are short on funds, but they always come through for us.”
Seelig is a second-generation Highway Hiker. His father and 15 other men formed the motorcycle club in 1976 and started the Toy Run two years later for children in Clark County.
“That’s 44 years consecutive without fail,” he said. “We do get tons of help, but we’re not corporately funded in any way.”
This year, Seelig said the group was actually up for the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest continuously held toy run in the U.S. without being corporately funded. However, there was a cost that goes with that, so they instead decided to use that money to give back to the kids.
The first toy run had 17 people in it. Seeling said he and the biker group went to a local hospital to donate toys, and they locked the doors. Eventually, a family services worker named Betty Payton helped bring the toy run to life over several years after joining the Salvation Army.
For the last 10 years, the group has given out the Betty Payton Award for someone who goes above and beyond for the toy run. This year, Seelig was unanimously chosen by the group as the recipient.
Motorcycles will begin arriving at the VFW at 8 a.m., but kickstands on the bikes go up at 1 p.m. The event will end at the Clark County Fairgrounds, 4401 S. Charleston Pike.
Seelig said the after party, normally held at the VFW, this year will be at the Ole Brick Tavern, 3475 Mechanicsburg Road in Springfield, where Bag Lady Sue will perform. Tickets are $10 for the after party and are limited because of capacity.
Those who want to participate in the Toy Run can donate a new toy or $10. Others can also volunteer by arriving at the fairgrounds by 1 p.m. near the youth building to accept the toys from the motorcyclists and help bag them.
The Springfield Salvation Army stores the bags of toys until they are needed on Dec. 5 when the Toy Shop officially opens at the Youth Building. Community members can volunteer from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday from Dec. 5-15 to sort and distribute the toys. Groups of six or more can contact the Salvation Army at 937-322-3434 if they’d like to volunteer together.
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