Fort Bragg Toy Run bikers will ride in rain or shine

FORT BRAGG, CA 12/1/22 — No matter the weather, the bikers will roar through Fort Bragg on Saturday on a mission for kids. Rain was in the forecast as of Wednesday.

The annual Christmas Toy Run, a tradition for more than 20 years, is once again headquartered at the Fort Bragg Lions Club Hall this Saturday from 12-4pm. The motorcycle run starts at Rollin’ Dough Baking Company’s coffee and goodies location at 18180 Ocean Drive, next to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.  A police escort will take the bikers through town to the Lions Club Hall at 430 Redwood Ave. where, besides accepting donated toys, there will be fun, raffles and prizes, all to benefit the children of the Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund. Toys  and gift cards are needed for kids aged 0-16.

Ron Smoley, in his second year participating in the Toy Run, predicted the bikers Saturday might be fewer than the over hundred people who showed up last year, but he promised, “the bikers will ride.”

“I would expect it to be less, especially for people coming over from Willits in the rain,” he said.

The event has gone on every year for the past 23 years except 2020, when it was nixed by the pandemic. Admission at Lions Club Hall is $20 or $10 with a new unwrapped toy. The Lions Club will serve a no-host bar.

Donations and toys all go to the Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund, which is raising funds for its mission of helping children and families still reeling from the pandemic and high housing prices. The MCCF has a new facility at Redwood Avenue and Franklin Street that is now being used for appointment-only meetings. Families are able to come for help and comfort. The nonprofit plans for a larger community opening in 2023.

Explained a recent letter to the community, “MCCF continues to face unprecedented challenges. Undeterred, we have taken a leap of faith and created a whole new vision of how to deliver services. You will find them busily transforming the sunny and accessible Fort Bragg corner of Redwood Avenue and N. Franklin Street into the MCCF Family Hands Resource Center. We are centrally located and serving families by in-person and remote appointments. We believe in creating a welcoming and inclusive space that is big enough for all of us, young and old, to lift each other up,” a letter to the community from the MCCF said.

What are some of the things that gifts to MCCF accomplish?

“You help MCCF stabilize families facing urgencies and emergencies so that they don’t lose their housing, health, or hope. We cover medical mileage and travel expenses so high-risk babies and vulnerable children can be seen by pediatric specialists at major Bay Area medical centers. We say yes, we will find a way, 365 days a year. Our services are bilingual and comprehensive. And 95% of our funding comes from folks, just like you, who believe in neighbor helping neighbor. As we enter our fourth decade, your generosity is needed more than ever,” the letter continued.

MCCF Family Hands Resource Center is the only family resource center from Westport to Elk, an area with over 2,500 children. MCCF provides guidance about housing, childcare, medical services, food, unpaid bills, and legal concerns. “We translate and facilitate, help financially when appropriate, and make sure families are treated with dignity and respect. In 2022, we have provided hundreds of children with access to recreation, sports, camp activities, shoes, clothes, food and so much more. None of this would be possible without your help,” the MCCF letter said.

Smoley won’t be riding his 1989 Harley Softail in the run. He will be at Lions Hall, helping get everything ready.  After the toys are  gathered, they will be distributed at Trinity Lutheran Church at 620 E. Redwood Ave. in Fort Bragg from Dec. 22-24.Smoley said cash donations are already coming in for MCCF to buy toys for kids, such as a $500 gift from Anderson Logging. People can join up through the Children’s Fund.

Donations, monthly or one-time only, can be made online at www.mccf.info by credit card or PayPal. Collection boxes for toy’s can be found at Racine’s (Spunky Skunk toys), Rollin’ Dough Bakery, Haywire, Harvest Market Boatyard, Point Cabrillo Light Station, Rite Aid and the Fort Bragg Outlet Store. New, unwrapped toys will continued to be collected at the above locations until Dec. 21.

“In times of uncertainty, one thing is sure. Together, we can make it possible that no child has to give up the joy of the holiday this season or sleep cold for the lack of a warm sleeping bag,” the MCCF letter said.

The post Fort Bragg Toy Run bikers will ride in rain or shine appeared first on The Mendocino Voice | Mendocino County, CA.