Motorcyclist group has annual cancer fundraiser
GREENCASTLE -- The Annual Granny Ride motorcycle event to raise money for individual cancer patients is Saturday.
The main recipient of the charity this year is a two-year-old cancer survivor named Grace Ella Hoffman who has a rare type of eye cancer called retinoblastoma.
"She's already been through four surgeries, radiation and chemo," said Monica Fletcher, one of the event organizers. "She's lost one eye already and the other is stable.
"She's just such a small child to go through such a horrendous event in her life," she said.
The ride begins at the Moose Lodge at 212 W. Franklin St. in Greencastle. Membership in either the Moose Lodge or the Granny Ride organization is not necessary to join the ride.
Registration for the ride itself is $10 for one rider and $15 for a couple, which takes place between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The ride starts shortly after, returning to the Moose Lodge around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. After that, a picnic will take place. The cost to just attend the dinner is $5.
The Granny Ride recently added a second recipient for the fundraiser, Lorri Decker, who is still in inpatient care.
Fletcher said that the event was started by Jerry Rubeck as a tribute to his wife Judy "Granny" Rubeck, who died of cancer in 2001.
"When she passed away from cancer he and some friends started the ride in memory of her to donate money to Putnam County residents who kind of fall through the cracks," she said. "They make a dollar too much to get state or federal aid but they don't make enough to pay those hospital bills that are mounting up."
Decker said that she is a stage four cancer survivor.
"I just felt so alone when I was going through that," Decker said. "I wish I had known about these guys then. It's just nice to let people know they aren't alone."