Follow-up story from the Herald-Times

Firefighter’s bike ride raises more than $1,800 for charities

By James Boyd
331-4370 | jboyd@heraldt.com
November 27, 2006

A Bloomington firefighter who rode his bicycle 540 miles from Ellettsville to Branson, Mo., earlier this fall raised more than $1,800 for two local organizations.

Battalion Chief Chuck Welch completed the trek in early October, but just recently totaled the amount of funds raised on his trip.

Nearly $1,300 of the money will go to the Bloomington Metropolitan Firefighters Local 586’s Shop with a Firefighter fund, which will help several children purchase necessities and toys next month during the holidays.

The other $550 was donated to the Ellettsville Masonic Lodge, where Welch is a member.

“The trip wasn’t about me, wasn’t about my age,” Welch said Saturday. “It started out as a salute to our veterans, but people kept asking me if I was riding for a charity. Finally I just said, ‘Fine, I’ll raise money for two charities!’”

Welch said he would’ve liked to have been able to raise more, but was grateful for those who donated to both causes.

“The overall ride went very well,” he said. “I hit a lot of hills in Missouri, and I knew it was going to be rough. But I made it.”

Welch was riding to attend the reunion of his Navy Vietnam veterans, which was held in Branson, Mo., last month.

He got the ultimate surprise when he pedaled into that town.

“My friend down there had arranged to have people standing out from the shopping malls cheering me on,” Welch said.

But as he looked closer, he realized he knew some of them.

“I saw that it was my family. I had no clue they were going to be there. That was just the best!”

Welch made it to the reunion on time, and came back to Bloomington — this time by car — and returned to the fire department.

Find out more

• Welch took time during his trip to write a blog about his experience. It’s still up and running at: www. ridingwithchuck.blogspot.com

• The Bloomington Metropolitan Firefighters Local 586’s Shop with a Firefighter program accepts monetary donations year-round. The program pairs a firefighter with a child to provide both essentials and toys during the holidays.

Donations can be sent to: Bloomington Metropolitan Firefighters Local 586, P.O. Box 474, Bloomington, IN 47401.