By The Numbers
By The Numbers
Donating Money
The Bikes, Blues & BBQ Motorcycle Rally donated money to:
Big Brothers Big Sisters: $1,000
BTX Kids Sports Experience: $1,000
CASA of Northwest Arkansas: $1,000
Fayetteville High School Band Boosters: $1,000
Fayetteville Youth Wrestling Club: $1,000
LifeSource International: $1,000
Childcare Aware: $1,000
Single Parent Scholarship Fund: $1,000
Springdale Benevolent Foundation: $1,000
Washington County 4-H Foundation: $1,000
Youth Strategies: $1,000
Circle of Friends-Arkansas Children’s Hospital: $2,000
Horses for Healing: $2,000
Ozark Military Museum: $2,000
Sheriff Ralph Baker Memorial Scholarship Fund: $2,000
Southeast Fayetteville Community Center: $2,000
Walton Arts Center: $2,000
Youth Bridge: $2,000
Fayetteville Public Education Foundation: $5,000
Jackson L. Graves Foundation: $5,000
Life Styles, Inc.: $5,000
Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District: $5,000
Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center: $5,000
Ozark Literacy Council: $5,000
Pagnozzi Charities: $5,000
Peace at Home Shelter: $5,000
Seven Hills Homeless Shelter: $5,000
Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club: $20,000
Source: Bikes, Blues & BBQ
FAYETTEVILLE — More than two dozen charities, along with 15 other groups, received almost $200,000 in revenue generated by the hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts who flooded Northwest Arkansas in September.
Organizers of the Bikes, Blues & BBQ Motorcycle Rally held a party Friday night at the Fayetteville Town Center where they distributed $90,000 to 28 charities.
Another $102,132 went to organizations such as the Fayetteville High School band boosters, youth sporting teams and civic groups in the form of contract work for services rendered during the 2012 rally.
Since 2000, the rally has drawn thousands of motorcycle riders, vendors and other tourists.
The nonprofit event often generates money for charity, although donations weren’t made in 2008 or 2011.
The $90,000 awarded Friday was a big accomplishment, said Joe Giles, Bikes, Blues & BBQ’s executive director.
“I don’t think it’s a record but it’s one of our best years,” Giles said. “We always want to be giving away in the $100,000 range. Some years we can, some years we can’t.”
Life Styles, an organization supporting individuals with disabilities, received a $5,000 check.
Some of the individuals receive learning opportunities at the University of Arkansas through the organization, said Jodie Hollingsworth, Life Style’s waiver coordinator.
“We’re using the donation this year to buy them each tablet computers so they could be more up to date with technology,” Hollingsworth said.
Other groups contract with the rally and receive financial support in exchange for manual labor, Giles said. Groups such as the Sequoyah Kiwanis Club and the Fayetteville High School Band Boosters help clean streets and beer gardens, he explained.
Giles said the rally’s fundraising goal for next year is simple: raise even more money.