Brothers Before Others has officially teamed up with the Kenneth Tietjen Memorial Foundation and the Middletown FOP Lodge#53 to bring back the Blue Valor Motorcycle Run, scheduled for May 11th, 2019.
Originally founded in 2011, this police escorted charity ride will begin at the World Trade Center plaza in New York City and will end at the Capitol Building in Washington DC. The ride will be completed in one day. Based upon past experience, all in with stops, it should be completed in approximately 5 hours.
At it’s peak, the BVMR raised just south of $100,000.00 for charity. This installments chosen benefactor will be the C.O.P.S. organization. C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors), was originally founded in 1984 with only 110 members and now has a membership of survivors totaling over 47,000. from their site:
“Survivors include spouses, children, parents, siblings, significant others, and affected co-workers of officers killed in the line of duty according to Federal government criteria. C.O.P.S. is governed by a National Board of law enforcement survivors. All programs and services are administered by the National Office in Camdenton, Missouri. C.O.P.S. has over 50 Chapters nationwide that work with survivors at the grass-roots level.
C.O.P.S. programs for survivors include the National Police Survivors’ Conference held each May during National Police Week, scholarships, peer-support at the national, state, and local levels, “C.O.P.S. Kids” counseling reimbursement program, the “C.O.P.S. Kids” Summer Camp, “C.O.P.S. Teens” Outward Bound experience for young adults, special retreats for spouses, parents, siblings, adult children, extended family, and co-workers, trial and parole support, and other assistance programs.
C.O.P.S. knows that a survivor’s level of distress is directly affected by the agency’s response to the tragedy. C.O.P.S., therefore, offers training and assistance to law enforcement agencies nationwide on how to respond to the tragic loss of a member of the law enforcement profession. C.O.P.S. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. C.O.P.S. programs and services are funded by grants and donations.”
Laurie Tietjen, Michael Burke and Daniel Graber all agree that this organization is more than worthy of any and all charity. As such, C.O.P.S. has already been contacted and are excited about this news.
Similar to other charity rides, each rider will be excepted to raise a set amount of money in order to participate. We are working right now to ensure that the dollar figure is as manageable as possible and that the experience justifies the monies raised. We will be linked to ‘First Giving’, allowing each participant to establish their own fundraising page to assist in this effort.
A website has been established that will be a one-stop destination for all things relating to application, advertising inquiries, interest in volunteering, general questions and news in regards to the BVMR. The website is currently under construction and will be ‘live’ shortly. In the meantime, there has also been a Facebook page established:
https://www.facebook.com/Blue-Valor-Motorcycle-Run-1957790357595537/
There WILL be a cap on the number of riders. So, once applications become available, please do not wait too long to apply!
Stay tuned for more news to follow!
Blue Valor Motorcyle Run:
http://bluevalormotorcyclerun.org/
For more information on the Kenneth Tietjen Memorial Foundation:
http://www.therapy-horse.org/privacy-policy
For more information on C.O.P.S.:
For more information on Middletown FOP Lodge#53:
http://www.middletownfop53.org/
