SANFORD — It is a good ride for a good cause, proponents say and the Spring Ride for the Troops, organized by Patriot Riders of America Maine Chapter One, takes place April 30.

Organizers like the chapter president Bruce Knight and event treasurer Dick Hamel are hoping for sunny skies and warm temperatures to draw lots and lots of motorcycles.

They’re hoping for sunny skies because the annual ride is the major fundraiser for the group, which spends 100 percent of it on helping veterans, mostly homeless veterans, the organizers say.

This is the 10th year of the spring ride, which began as a project of Massachusetts Chapter One of the Patriot Riders. The Maine chapter began organizing the ride five years ago, said Knight.

Knight said the 2016 event was a cold, overcast ride, and drew 319 riders.

“We’ve had more than 600 motorcycles on a nice day,” he said.

The ride brings in anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 each year — money that goes to everything from food and fuel oil deliveries to veterans in need, to securing an apartment for a homeless vet, providing emergency accommodation and more.

This past winter, club members went to the camps where homeless people live in Sanford, Portland and Saco, handing out warm winter gear including hats, gloves, thermal clothing and sleeping bags, said Knight.

Knight said the club works with agencies that help the homeless. Once an apartment is secured, Patriot Riders Maine Chapter One provide everything from gently used furniture to sheets and flatware — whatever folks would need to furnish an apartment.

Since Jan. 1, the club has helped 40 homeless veterans from Maine move into apartments, said Knight.

As well, he said five cars have been donated to the club, which in turn have gone to veterans in need.

Ror the Spring Ride for the Troops, riders pay $20 and passengers pay $10 to register for the ride, which begins at York High School. As a group, the riders will make their way from York to Kittery and up Route 101 through Eliot on through the Berwicks to Sanford, down Route 109 to Wells and up U.S. Route 1, to end at Bentley’s Saloon in Arundel.

At the end of the trek, guest speaker William Marinelli, a Vietnam veteran who was living in his car in Massachusetts until a couple of years ago, will talk about his experience. Knight said he got in touch with Marinelli, but initially, the conversation didn’t go far. Several months later, Knight got a call from the man, who said his vehicle had been run off the road and was no longer drivable.

“I went and got him and a member with a trailer went and got his car.” A local repair shop fixed the vehicle, Knight said, while they took the veteran to York County Shelter Programs. From there, he has moved on to transitional housing designed specifically for veterans.

Over the years, Patriot Riders Maine Chapter One have helped homeless veterans from the Vietnam era, veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan — and even a few from World War II, Knight said.

Neither Knight, a retired Sanford firefighter, or Hamel have served in the military. 

“I didn’t realize how veterans were treated by the government,” said Knight, so he joined to help where he could.

Hamel said he joined the club — for which you don’t need to be a veteran or own a motorcycle — because his father and father-in-law are World War II veterans and he has a nephew in the U.S. Navy.

“It’s a way to give back. They fought for our freedoms and way of life,” Hamel said.

Folks interested in joining the club, which has about 80 active members, can take in a meeting. The group meets at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month at Sanford VFW, off School Street.

The ride is escorted by law enforcement agencies from each municipality it passes through, along with Maine State Police and York County Sheriff’s Office.

Fire departments in most municipalities the ride passes through will raise their ladder truck and suspend a flag from it as the motorcycles pass underneath.

In past years, Maine First Lady Ann LePage, has joined the ride on the back of a bike, but she isn’t able to make it this year, said Knight.

Registration for the ride is from 8 to 10:30 a.m. April 30 at York High School, 1 Robert Stevens Drive, York. The ride begins “kick-stands up” at 10:45 a.m., sharp.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.