Bikers that Give

Rolling Thunder Toy Run is an annual event that takes place on the first sunday of November every year. Hundreds of motorcyclists gather at Walmart in Heath and buy toys for children, then proceed to ride to the Salvation Army on E Main Street and donate them there. By 1pm all bikers fire up their motorcycles and begin the parade. Once the toys are dropped off, the bikers can enjoy donuts and coffee. The whole parade is for families in need, it so they can provide a Christmas for their children.

The Toy Run started 26 years ago with just less than 20 people with just about a dozen bikers. In 2016, over 1,000 bikers participated in the event. In the most recent one, which took place November 4th, 2018, there was an estimated 750 people. The whole event was started because this group of bikers wanted to contribute toys to the community instead of the one in Columbus, which was too long of a ride away, anyway. The first year this was started, the toys were dropped of at the Newark Fire Department for their annual collection of toys to donate to the kids. The news wanted absolutely nothing to do with this small parade and there were no cop cars to block off parts of the road, but even so, the bikers persisted. Because no recognition was given to them from the fire department, the bikers decided to start donating the toys to the Salvation Army instead. The bikers gathered at a toy store in Heath near the Indian Mound Mall and began a route downtown and around the square. The bikers, in the coming years, began to gather at Toys ‘R’ Us, which is now moved to Walmart because the company went out of business.

So, why support this parade? This event gives hundreds of kids a Christmas, it gives them toys that they never would have gotten otherwise. It’s just people giving out of the kindness of their hearts, which is pretty special considering the stigma around bikers. This even shows that not all of them are mean, cold-hearted monsters, but instead people that care about their community. I think it’s pretty cool to be in the middle of the parade, where all you can see from either side are bikes revving their engines, carrying toys for children in need.