A benefit motorcycle ride and chicken dinner event will be held Saturday to raise funds for the medical expenses of a Blue Knights MS IX chapter member whose daughter is undergoing extensive medical treatment.
The event will take place Saturday, at Jack Read Park in Picayune. Registration for the motorcycle ride begins at 8 a.m. Registration for a motorcycle is $20 and $10 for a passenger. Registration of a motorcycle includes the meal, which will be a barbecue chicken quarter, baked beans, potato salad, roll and drink.
However, community members who do not ride a motorcycle can also contribute by buying a barbecue chicken dinner plate for $10 the day of the event between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The chicken will be prepared by Blue Knights IX member Chad Dorn.
Blue Knights IX Board member Mike Johnson said the event will feature a motorcycle ride that will be about 80 miles long through the back roads of Pearl River County and surrounding areas.
He said kickstands go up at 10 a.m. and he expects the ride to end at noon in time for lunch at Jack Read Park.
“Come hang out and get to know the local Blue Knights chapter,” Johnson said.
The funds from Saturday’s event will go toward the care and medical expenses for fellow Blue Knight IX member Brad Andrew’s daughter. Andrew said his daughter Hope was born with chiari syringomyelia, which is a chronic disorder concerning the spinal cord. Andrew said his daughter was diagnosed with the disorder two years ago, and has undergone numerous medical examinations and surgeries to treat the lifelong condition. At times her disorder causes her to suffer migraines due to her brain growing faster than her skull, Andrew said.
While treatment has allowed her to return to school in the Hancock County School District, she will need additional medical treatment for the rest of her life, including an upcoming procedure to drain spinal fluid from her brain to help alleviate the migraines, Andrew said.
“This is a lifelong thing,” Andrew said. “She’s going to have issues for the rest of her life. Basically every day we have with her is a blessing.”