Ambler bikers will lead hundreds in a parade of motorcycles from Wissahickon High School to Citizens Bank Park April 26.
Hosted by the Lucky Seven Motorcycle Club of Ambler, the second annual "Ride for Autism" held during National Autism Awareness Month will benefit the Center for Autism, a nonprofit autism treatment and evaluation clinic in Philadelphia.
The club, formed in 2004 by active and former local volunteer firefighters, is a nonprofit organization of people who share a passion for motorcycling and participate in charity events throughout the year.
Vice President Steve Love said L7MC is "hoping the local community will come out and support [them]" as they ride from Dager Road to Bethlehem Pike, to Butler Pike, through Plymouth Meeting and Conshohocken, and onto the Schuylkill Expressway, to the Philadelphia Phillies' home stadium.
Love said of all the area motorcycle clubs L7MC networks with, theirs is the first major ride of the year.
Last year they rode in April snow, Love said, and still had 100 riders. Assuming temperatures will not be under the freezing mark this year, he said the club expects a larger turnout.
Club members have attended Philadelphia sporting events to pass out info about the ride and accept donations. According to Love, they've collected $7,000 before they even hit the road.
The recipient of these funds, the Center for Autism, is the oldest specialized autism center in the nation.
"We're unique in the sense that we serve children who are below the poverty line," Executive Director Jean Ruttenberg said, calling the center "one of few community-based urban programs in the country."
The largest of the center's "broad range of programs" is a special education day program for children ages 18 months to 6 years old.
A social competency program serves 7- to 17-year-olds a few times a week after school, and deals with interaction, communication, ritualized behaviors and social change, she said.
"A child with autism can have a very high IQ but also a huge deficit in the communication area."
The second largest diagnostic center to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the center also provides training and consultation to school districts, counties and rehabilitation centers throughout the Delaware Valley, and over the years has influenced autism advocacy decisions.
The club's inaugural Ride for Autism last April raised about $9,000 for the center.
Ruttenberg said there are "so many things kids need," like specialty equipment for everything from occupational therapy to the playground.
"Those dollars directly find themselves to the children and their families."
Private funds donated this year will help the center move into new headquarters on Ford Road in Philadelphia.
Ruttenberg said the center's current location on Conshohocken Avenue will serve as a satellite site "because of the amount of children who need to be served."
"The new site will allow us to triple our evaluation service, which is critical," she continued, "because sometimes the waiting list to get diagnosed is up to 12 months."
And children with autism cannot receive treatment until they are diagnosed.
As the word about autism gets out, Ruttenberg said clubs like L7MC become "more aware of the need [for autism support]."
"And there is a tremendous need."
Registration/check-in at WHS will start at 8:30 a.m. The ride will kick off at 11 a.m.
An award ceremony with a lunch buffet and DJ entertainment will welcome riders to the park at noon. Bikers park on Citizens Parkway and everyone else can park in Lot P off Darien Street.
Immediately following, the L7MC will host the official Ride for Autism post-party at McFadden's at Citizens Bank Park until 4 p.m.
Rain date is April 27.