In 2004, a few hard working motorcycle enthusiasts were inspired to make a difference in their community. The “hogs” and their “honeys” needed something to do in the cold winter months and nothing sounded better than a Valentine’s Day Benefit Party. It was just the kind of event that would bring friends together and give them the opportunity to raise money for charity. In that inaugural year, the group of about forty raised a little over $1,000 for the Children’s Aid Society. As years passed, the event grew, the committee grew, and the amount of money raised increased. When the founders heard about Mission Kids trying to take off in 2008, they wanted to help, and they did by raising $7,000. This support of Mission Kids ultimately led to the creation of the Hogs Committee, the core group of volunteers that plan and host the event.
Today, the organization is an official 501c3 named Hogs and Honeys A Foundation for Kids and has raised well over $300,000. The foundation donated
$50,000 from the 2016 Spring Fling Benefit in March. This event replaced the Valentine’s Day event in an attempt to avoid the unpredictable winter weather. The Hogs Committee consists of at least twenty members and the event attracts more than 1,000 friends, family, bikers, coworkers, and anyone else ready to join the fun and raise money for the children. Anywhere from thirty to fifty local food vendors supply samplings of their best dishes, thirty to forty local business sponsor the event, and countless other local businesses make monetary or raffle donations. With all of the support Hogs and Honeys receives they can now support not only Mission Kids, but also Martin Luther Silver Spring School, and The Variety Club.
The annual event’s tremendous growth is something that the committee can be proud of, yet the work hasn’t stopped there. The organization has begun a grant and scholarship program that enables the organization to provide a local family in need with a good or service. This is a way for Hogs and Honeys to directly impact the lives of the children within Montgomery County. The ability to directly impact a child’s life is something that the organization wants to do so much more of because words can not explain the joy.
Hogs and Honeys also recently teamed up with the Montgomery County Chapter of the Centurions to begin an Annual Christmas in July Toy Run. The first year they collected hundreds of toys for the children at the Martin Luther Silver Spring School and raised $2,500 for the Variety Club.
The volunteers work so passionately and selflessly to help these children all year round and to be able to have a direct impact sometimes is unexplainable.
Despite all the growth and change, the volunteers still work tirelessly for the children of Montgomery County for nothing but a thank you in return. A group of bikers, and non-bikers, are drawn together because of their shared passion to make a change. These ordinary people have made an extraordinary difference in the lives of the children in Montgomery County through countless hours of hard work.