Bikers meet at Gail's Place after the run

NEWBURGH – Members of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention were joined Saturday by area residents and over 70 bikers at the first annual “Here Comes the Sun Bike Run.” The two-hour motorcycle run was organized by the newly formed AFSP Hudson Valley chapter and consisted of a country drive from Newburgh to Wurtsboro beginning and ending at Gail’s Place on Route 17K in Newburgh.

According to the AFSP, every 16 minutes someone dies by suicide and it is in fact the fourth leading cause of death in people aged 18 to 65. A major cause of suicide is untreated depression and therefore the primary focus of this scenic motorcycle run was to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention.

Local chapter President Linda Ferraro, who lost her 18-year-old son to suicide in 2004, was taken by the turnout and personal impacts.

“There are people here riding in memory of someone,” she said. “I just expected bikers to come and have a good time. I didn’t realize a lot of these people were affected by a suicide loss.”

 All of the funds raised at the event will be used to support local suicide prevention, education, and research programs. According to Hudson Valley AFSP area coordinator Maria Idoni,  one of the programs currently geared towards young adults consist of a video put out by the AFSP entitled, “More Than Sad: Teen Depression,” that is used as an awareness tool in schools so that teens know, “what to look out for in themselves and their friends for depression.”

The day’s events culminated with an after party where donations from numerous local businesses and sponsors were raffled off. “A lot of people were very generous this year,” said Ferraro.

“We’re out here and we’re doing charity runs and everything to help other people out,” said member of the True Colors Bike Club of Montgomery Mike Wilson. “Bikers stand together and we’re one big old happy family,” said Wilson before noting that it “meant a lot” to him and his fellow bikers to be out riding for charity to help out others and support one another.