Put on your black leather jacket, shine up your chrome and start revving your engine because Chili’s Bar & Grill in Oxford is looking for local motorcyclists who want to hit the road for a great cause Saturday, Sept. 13.
Dubbed the ‘Create a Pepper Ride,? Chili’s is hosting a bike run beginning at its 700 N. Lapeer Rd. location and ending at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #3589 in Davison.
The cost to participate is $20 per bike and all proceeds go directly to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
It costs $1 million a day to operate St. Jude and no child is ever turned away due to a lack of insurance.
Registration for the bike run starts at 10 a.m. when Chili’s opens its doors that day. The actual ride begins at 1 p.m. and will take about 40 minutes.
‘This is the perfect venue,? said Oxford resident Mark Tauscher, who manages the Auburn Hills Chili’s and will be leading Saturday’s ride on his 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan Classic. ‘I mapped it out, we could probably fit 600 bikes in (the parking lot).?
‘Even if people don’t want to ride, but they want to donate, by all means stop by. It’s all going to a good cause,? Tauscher added.
Once bikers reach their destination in Davison, they will enjoy food, vendors, a 50/50 raffle and musical entertainment until around 8 or 9 p.m.
Nationwide, Chili’s is committed to raising $50 million for St. Jude over a 10-year-period. To date, the restaurant chain has generated $18.7 million for the hospital, the main focus of which is ground-breaking research and lifesaving care.
Once the $50 million goal is reached, Chili’s donation will be the largest from a single partner campaign in St. Jude’s history.
Last November, Chili’s and St. Jude opened the Chili’s Care Center, a seven-floor, 340,000-square-foot facility that combines 21st century imaging and treatment technology with St. Jude’s well-established approach to medical research.
If you’re not a biker, but still want to support St. Jude, then come on out to the Oxford Chili’s anytime on Monday, Sept. 29.
All you have to do is eat lunch or dinner and Chili’s will donate 100 percent of that day’s profits to St. Jude.