Santa’s Helpers
The Greene County Rattlers raised around $7,000 to purchase gifts for 25 children last year. Since 2011 the club has raised funds to help families in their area.
The Greene County Rattlers Motorcycle Club has 22 members who raise money every year to buy gifts for children during the holiday season. The club then has a party to wrap and package the gifts.
The Greene Rattlers Motorcycle Club has 22 members who are active in their community by participating in charity rides and raising money for different causes.
Boo Dikun, president of the Greene County Rattlers Motorcycle Club
In Greene County, there’s more than one Santa Claus. And they don’t wear red velvet – they wear black leather.
The Greene County Rattlers Motorcycle Club doesn’t fit the “biker gang” stereotype. They organized in 2011 for a specific reason: to make sure every child gets a Christmas.
“We like kids and try to help kids who won’t have a Christmas, or not much of one,” says Boo Dikun of Clarksville, president of the club.
The 22-member club raises money to buy toys and gifts for children and families in need during the holiday season. Dikun said that when they first formed as a motorcycle club, they “stumbled upon” the need in Greene County.
“We never realized how fast the need was growing,” he says.
Each year since 2011, the amount of money raised and toys purchased grows, Dikun says. Last year, they raised almost $7,000 and used it to purchase gifts for 25 children, ranging in age from infants to 18.
The Rattlers have done other fundraisers in the community, including charity rides. They did one in July for 6-year-old Tavion Terry of Wind Ridge, who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor – he’s also one of the children they’ll be buying presents for this year.
But their charity efforts haven’t protected them from being stereotyped as a dangerous group. One member, Jack Stephenson of Gilmore Township, says he’s been kicked out of restaurants and other places for the Rattlers patches on his riding jackets, because people assume that the patches signify that he’s part of a dangerous biker gang.
“The stereotypes are unbelievable,” he says.
Dikun says the club has always been a drug-free group and anytime one of their members “starts acting up, we’ll kick ’em out, because we’re just not going to put up with that.”
The Rattlers have a ride coming up in the spring to raise money for homeless veterans within Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. Dikun says they haven’t been getting as many riders out for charity runs, so they’ve been spending more time and effort in their Christmas donations for children.
The motorcyclists start collecting a list of families, children and gift ideas around mid-November each year – and they check it twice. Dikun says the group can usually tell how much a family is in need by their gift requests. “You can see their perspectives if these kids are asking for boots and winter coats and things like that, or if they’re asking for iPhones or iPads,” he says.
The group tries to find families that are not suffering from addiction. Dikun says too often parents with addiction issues will return the donated Christmas gifts and use the money to buy drugs.
“Then the kids don’t get the gifts anyway, and I don’t know what you do for them,” he says. “That’s why we try to find working families or single moms and dads that just can’t make ends meet.”
Two years ago they helped a family whose house burned down two weeks before Christmas. Another year, they helped a family whose main provider was seriously injured in a work accident.
“We’ll help anybody if someone has an unforeseen illness come up or an accident or something,” says John Vedis, a member of the group from Waynesburg. “The biggest thing is that we make sure the kids get the Christmas gifts.”
Stephenson says they’ve even helped members of their club, adding that if more families come to them than they’ve prepared for, then “we’ll just find more money.”
Vedis says that typically a week or two before Christmas the club will get together and have a party while they wrap and tag gifts. Sometimes the parents will pick up the gifts, and sometimes the club members will deliver the gifts the week of Christmas.
“When I deliver them, if the parents start tearing up, I’ve got to get out of there or I’ll be in there crying too,” Stephenson says.
One of the members, Erik Hutchinson of Jefferson, says that “seeing the children’s smiles is priceless” and worth their efforts.
“We hear how happy the kids are and that makes everything worth it,” Dikun says. “That’s really all we want.”