When Ron “Bumper” Herron put together the first Circle City Toy Run in 1994, he managed to gather a dozen or so friends and collect 22 toys for The Salvation Army’s Christmas Assistance program. Fast forward 24 years and the parking lot at The Salvation Army’s headquarters is filled with hundreds of bikes and toys are spilling from a trailer.
The Circle City Toy Run brings together two passions: motorcycles and giving back. Hundreds of bikers travel to Indianapolis, toys strapped to the back of their seats. They gathered downtown before parading to The Salvation Army headquarters in Castleton to deliver their toys. This year, this big-hearted group gathered hundreds of toys to help with Angel Tree.
Angel Tree is a special program designed to help families who are not able to afford Christmas presents for their children, and this year is the biggest Angel Tree yet! The Salvation Army will be serving over 5,000 children Christmas, making the Circle City Toy Run all the more important.
Without toy drives like the Circle City Toy Run, The Salvation Army would not be able to serve so many Hoosier children!
The Circle City Toy Run began when Bumper’s mother, who volunteered with The Salvation Army, encouraged her son to help her wrap presents for a Christmas program. The next year he began collecting toys with some of his friends, but wanted his collection to be bigger and have a greater impact.
The event has since become a day-long adventure complete with music, barbecue and a special stop by The Salvation Army's canteen for hot cocoa and a miniature Salvation Army bell. Riders come back year after year, adding another bell to their collections, a new Circle City Toy Run t-shirt to their wardrobes, and a warm feeling in their hearts knowing that they are helping hundreds of children have a merrier Christmas.
Check out all of the pictures from the Toy Run on our Flickr Page.