Raton K of C holds bike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude Hospital
The Raton Knights of Columbus held their 24th annual bike-a-thon to benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Back row from left to right, Frank Cimino, coordinator, and representing the Knights of Columbus; Lisa Ortega with First National Bank, Terry Baca representing Raton Elks Lodge #865; Janet Simon the Exalted Ruler of the Elks Lodge #865. Augustine Mascarenas and Ed Fidel, both with the Knights of Columbus, and Philip Mendez, assistant manager at Kmart.
Front row with bikes, at far right is Ethan Long. His twin, at the far left, is Aaron Long, and in the middle is Tyler Petrini. Tyler raised $300, and the twins raised $286 and $287. These three kids were the top three pledgers. Not pictured: Briana Pais, who started riding in the bike-a-thon in 2006 as a seven year old, and has ridden every year since. She managed to raise $2,000 this year on her own, to give her a grand total of $10,000 raised over her ten years. There were 28 participants this year, most of whom raised between $100 and $250 each.
The Raton Elks Lodge donated $1,000 to this year’s bike-a-thon. The bike-a-thon was started in 1991 by the Knights of Columbus, who have continued organizing it every year since. It is the second longest running bike-a-thon in the USA. (One in New York started in the late 80s.) Total raised this year was $8,125.08. Over the 24 years of this bike-a-thon, more than $100,000 has been raised and donated to St. Jude’s Hospital. The bike-a-thon was held on the last Saturday in June.
