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MOOSEHEART, IL - Almost every day, news comes to Mooseheart of another handful of motorcycle-riding Moose members who intend to make the trek to Mooseheart on Sunday, May 6 for the fourth annual Blessing of the Bikes ceremony.

Add to this a favorable weather forecast, and all indications are that this event will be the most successful in its brief history at Mooseheart.

Event organizers predict double to triple the number of motorcycles to descend on the Child City campus for an event that is a joint fundraiser for event sponsor Mooseheart Lodge 2655 and St. Jude Children’s Cancer Research Hospital. Last year 80 motorcycles participated.

Attendance has already been confirmed from riders as far away as West Virginia as well as Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Riders from other states are expected.

The timetable for the event has been finalized. In brief, motorcyclists and guests will begin arriving and registering at 9 a.m. in the parking lot just south of the Mooseheart football stadium, which is in the southeast corner of the Mooseheart campus, near the intersection of Illinois Route 31 and Mooseheart Road in North Aurora.

Raffles and other activities will take place until 11:30, when the motorcyclists will follow a pace truck through the Mooseheart campus. The ride will end at the House of God at 11:45 a.m., where Mooseheart's longtime resident Chaplain, Rev. Tom Riemenschneider, will deliver the blessing.

Lunch will be served following the blessing. Mooseheart students will attend the blessing at the House of God. Post-blessing events will continue through the early afternoon.

The Blessing of the Bikes is a decades-old motorcycling tradition in which riders are given a blessing in the hope of a safe riding season. The many riding clubs sponsored by Moose Lodges, called “Moose Riders,” take this blessing seriously to heart - as much of their riding season will be to benefit the communities in which they live and also the children at Mooseheart.

Registration donation for the event is $15 for a lone rider, $10 for an additional passenger and entitles participants to coffee, pastries and bagels in the morning, a participation patch, a barbeque lunch and entertainment by the Open Road Radio crew. There will be sponsor booths and give-aways, prizes and raffles

Corporate sponsors and community partners who are contributing o the success of this year’s event include Foremost Insurance Group, US Bank, VISA, Comcast, Fifth-Third Bank, Caribou Coffee and Panera Bread.

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229.