The annual Hospice Riding For A Cause (Motorcycle Ride and Car Run) will look very different this year. The Hospice Ride Committee is unable to have the typical group event due to state restrictions on public gatherings and guidance from the MN Dept. of Health amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This year they have something else planned! As always, the health and safety of the community and ride supporters is their priority.

As individuals and/or members of the same household, the ride committee and Hospice staff encourage you to embrace the open road on your motorcycles or in your vehicles on Saturday, June 20 to remember and honor their hospice patients. With the Complete Streets Project taking place in Starbuck this year, they have an alternate ride route you may want to follow. This route honors Jim Tank, one of the four founders of the Hospice Ride who passed away in 2019. The provided route includes his road by Lake Amelia. Please drive safely on any route you take, and follow social distancing guidelines anytime you stop to protect your health and to prevent community spread of COVID-19 by asymptomatic persons. The route maps are also on the Hospice Ride event page at glacialridge.org/ride.

On behalf of the hospice staff and the ride committee, Tina Blair, manager of Glacial Ridge Hospice, states, "We want to thank all of you who have joined us every year to make this event a success, raising both money and awareness of our hospice program." In appreciation, she added, "We are extremely grateful for the countless businesses and individuals who have supported the event each year in so many ways through sponsorship, monetary or raffle donations, free-will donations at the event, bringing your families, and giving of your time. We continually think of and appreciate you."

The ride committee appreciates your understanding and flexibility with a very different type of ride during an unprecedented time in our nation's history. Blair said, "We hope you get an opportunity to get out and go for a ride or drive this Saturday in honor and remembrance of our hospice patients and their families." As for next year, they look forward to coming together, even stronger than before, to continue this important tradition in person in 2021.

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