Usually when people think of rivalries, the first thing that comes to mind is sports: the Giants versus the Dodgers, Cowboys versus Redskins, Ali versus Frasier. It's not too often that you hear "rivalry" and "charity" uttered in the same sentence or, in this case, printed in the same sentence. However, in the motorcycling community there's a friendly unspoken rivalry between Southern California and South Florida as to who has the largest one-day motorcycle-related charity event. On the West Coast there's the Love Ride, and on the southeast coast of Florida there's the South Florida President's Council (SFPC) Toys in the Sun Run. Both have been running for more than 18 years and have raised millions of dollars for charitable organizations.
If you've been paying attention to this book, you'll have noticed that for the past year we've been chasing the heels of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's Hard Rock Road House Tour (HRRHT) as it bounced its way from rally to rally. The final tour stop for the HRRHT took place during the Toys in the Sun Run this past December 10, so being the efficient staff we are, it made sense to head east and cover both events.
From the name alone, one would think the Toys in the Sun Run was just about collecting toys for less fortunate families to help make the holiday season a little brighter, which they do (in the tens of thousands). In actuality, the run is more than that. Over the past 19 years, bikers and supporters have raised more than $6,000,000 in proceeds to benefit the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, FL. The proceeds have been used to help pay for cancer treatments for children at the hospital and to help cover other special needs for the kids, as well as helping to feed thousands of needy families during the holidays.