One Madison non-profit operates with the goal of getting veteran heroes back out on the road on brand new motorcycles. Now, it’s looking for a deserving vet for its next bike donation.
When Kevin Thompson first started Hogs for Heroes with his wife, brother and sister-in-law, the four had a vision to combine their passions for supporting veterans with motorcycles.
“We didn’t know what to expect as far as how quickly we could raise the money,” said Thompson.
Hogs for Heroes is a non-profit with a goal of giving brand new Harley-Davidson motorcycles to Wisconsin veterans, with four criteria considered.
“One, that they’re a Wisconsin veteran. Two, that they were injured in a service related situation. Three, we call it a financial component. We don’t put a number to it but somebody who is not in a position to afford the bike themselves and then, fourth, that they have a history and a passion of motorcycling,” said Thompson.
For each motorcycle, about 20 thousand dollars is raised.
“The majority of it has just come from individuals. One dollar five dollars ten dollars and that’s really what we rely on and its heart warming,” said Thompson.
And after already donating two motorcycles, they’ve raised what’s needed to give away one more and that’s just the beginning.
“We set in our minds if we could do one bike a year, we thought that would be tremendous and here we are on our third bike in one year which means a lot,” said Thompson.
The application window is open now and runs until April 1st. For more information about applying and Hogs for Heroes click here
