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Motorcycle Riders Will Be Forever #BikerStrong

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Laurie Montoya, Publisher

1 year ago, we were all living in a different space with COVID shutting all our lives down.  COVID was peaking and our national and local government’s initiated mandatory shutdowns in the hopes that the shutdown would stop the spread.

I am happy to report that while many businesses have closed or will never re-open, our most of biker related businesses have found a way to survive here in Colorado and that is because of the YOU. 

It was during these times of hardship that Colorado biker businesses and riders summoned the strength and resilience that lives deep in our DNA to survive. Our biker’s business proved that no matter how often we are knocked down, we will keep getting up and get through this pandemic together. Your commitment to support biker bars thru take out orders, direct donation and continuing to wear your masks has given these businesses just enough revenue to keep their doors open. 

The challenges that biker establishments like Dirty Dogs Roadhouse and others have endured, the additional costs involved to remain compliant will take years to recover from, but 1 thing is clear…the biker community is resilient and a community of riders that stand together will forever be #bikerstrong

Colorado Rider News, the only remaining monthly motorcycle publication in our community also faced challenges, and thanks to our motorcycle advertisers and subscribers who continued to read our publication online, we too were able to weather the COVID storm and are still here today!

The future of our motorcycle events in Colorado are increasing, and slowly events are filling up our event calendar.  Dealerships, promotors, and charities who struggled thru 2020, are scheduling their annual rides and events and we ask everyone to do what you can to support them. 

In this issue we will share with our readers and update on the 2nd  Colorado Motorcycle Swap Meet held at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in March.  We have also dedicated a portion of this month’s issue to Women riders, their upcoming events, and businesses. 

Lastly, April is also Child Abuse Awareness month and CRN was honored to touch base with Biker’s for Justice and Christian Riders MM who will both be hosting rides to bring awareness to child abuse and trafficking.

As always enjoy the ride, let us know what we can do better and BE SAFE OUT THERE

Laurie Montoya

Publisher

Colorado Rider News

info@coloradoridernews.com

Publisher, Colorado Rider News

Motorcycle Awareness – 9th Annual Look Twice Save a Life

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By Laurie Montoya

It is a well-known fact that the public does not watch for motorcycles no matter how many billboards CDOT puts up or lighted signs that are only up a few days in May or in August during Sturgis.  It is a well-known fact that most motorcycle accidents involve a car and/or some sort of distracted driving.  Distracted Driving comes in many forms including texting/driving, use of handheld mobile devices while driving, putting your makeup on while the vehicle is moving, looking in the back seat at your kids, eating while driving to changing the radio station.

Our riding community continues to be the victim of irresponsible drivers who are out driving with no driver’s license and little to no insurance and driver’s leaving accident victims on the ground and leaving the scene.  Driver’s change lanes without looking and run stop signs/lights, hit the biker and keep on going.

BikerDown Foundation received a Proclamation in 2015 from then Governor Hickenlooper proclaiming May17th as Colorado Motorcycle Awareness Day.  This was quite an honor to be recognized by the state of Colorado for the good work that BikerDown has done for the motorcycle community.

On May 15th, BikerDown will again host the only motorcycle awareness ride on the front range, called the Look Twice Save a Life ride.  We are going to repeat the theme of last year with Can YOU SEE me NOW.  These awareness shirts were a tremendous hit with riders no matter what you rode.

Riders will need to pre-register for the ride to guarantee themselves 1 of our motorcycle awareness t shirts.  T-shirts will be available the day of the event in limited sizes.  Registration is $25.00 per rider.  Each rider who pre-registers will get 1 free month of motorcycle roadside assistance sponsored by Motorcycle Towing Services.

Our ride will start and end this year at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden with kickstands up at 10-10:30 am.  The Look Twice ride is known for great rides routes and safety is always key for this event.  Dirty Dogs will have some great entertainment for our event, and our sponsors and biker community always donates great raffles and 50/50 drawings prizes.

Our sponsor for the ride is again Rider Justice.  For over 8 years, Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com has supported this event as well as BikerDown Foundation to ensure that injured motorcycle riders have a resource to go when they go down.

Pre-Register to get your Can YOU See me NOW event tshirt

This is BikerDown Colorado’s primary fundraiser that will enable us to continue the mission of helping injured riders until the end of the year!

You can register for our event by clicking here to be guaranteed your own Can YOU SEE me NOW t-shirt.  If you cannot make the event, please register and BikerDown will ship your shirt to you.  100% of your donation goes into the Colorado BikerDown Accident Fund to help injured riders.

Remember to Ride Safe and SAVE THE DATE!

Save the Date – May 1st is International Female Ride Day

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Colorado Rider News in conjunction with Audrey Paulas from Cool Biker Lunch & Rides is hosting the May 1st International Female Ride. Please join us at Rocky Mountain Harley Davidson at 9am for a day of empowerment for women!

Pre-Register today by clicking here

After a short ride, we will come back to the dealership and have an afternoon of activities including a women’s rodeo games, women biker vendors and music.

You can pre-register for the ride by clicking here. Pre-registration guarantees that you will receive an event tshirt and our welcome package. Huge thank you to our sponsor RiderJustice.com and our host Kathy and Marina from Rocky Mountain Harley. Kathy has been a women biker owned business for over 40 years and an inspiration to women riders all over the Colorado riding community including her annual Children’s Hospital Toy Run.

International Female Ride days is a globally synchronized women’s motorcycle ride

Proceeds from the event will go directly to the local food banks in Jefferson County and to BikerDown’s #2Wheels4meals program which helps 1st responders and injured riders with meals.

Help Us Help the Children in our Community

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By: Bikers for Justice

For those of you who do not know, April is the official month for Child Abuse Awareness and we truly need to bring more awareness to this pressing issue. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak seems to have caused an alarming decrease in calls reported to the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, 844-CO-4-KIDS (844-264-5437). The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) has calculated that calls from medical professionals have decreased up to 11% and calls from education professionals decreased by up to 30%! However, calls from friends and family have increased by 5%1.

Michelle Barnes, the executive director of CDHS stated, “Usually, we see a drop in calls when school ends for summer, but the decrease started much sooner – in March when remote learning began – and continued throughout the summer until in-person learning resumed in the fall. As schools reopened with some form of in-person learning, calls to the hotline increased but have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.”

Colorado Children need our help and support and that is where our organization fits in!

Bikers for Justice is a riding group focused on preventing one more child from being abused.

We are BIKERS FOR JUSTICE! A group of riders who are coming together from every walk of life, but the one issue that binds them together is preventing one more child from being abused.

Our Mission is founded on the vision that every child has the right to feel safe from further abuse. We are there to empower the children that have been abused and free them from their fears. Bikers for Justice is focused to eliminate further abuse to children with our physical presence by providing a 360-degree shield to prevent further abuse. We will immediately respond to a child in need. We have got your back!

It is difficult to know the scope of how much child-abuse and neglect really affect one of our most vulnerable members of our communities.  Abused children are often isolated, especially when the trauma involves a caregiver they depend on every day. The harm many children face is not recognized or reported by adults.

Here is some statistic that one might find shocking:

  • Every 10 seconds a report of child abuse is made
  • 91% of child abuse perpetrators are parents
  • 7.2 million children every year are referred to Child Protective Services
  • 4 to 5 children die from child abuse or neglect every day
  • 77% of child fatalities involve one parent
  • 75% of children who die of abuse and are under age 3

The CDHS lists some examples of how our community can help to strengthen families, even those who are not raising a child or working with children or families every day1:

  • Be a listening ear for a neighbor who may be having a difficult time.
  • Offer to shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk when it snows.
  • Help a parent connect to or apply for benefits. Let them know it is okay to need help.
  • Community groups can connect parents to one another to help build support networks.
  • Employers can allow for flexibility in scheduling where possible.
  • People in the service industry can notice positive parenting moments and offer compliments.
  • Faith communities can offer financial support or goods to families who need it.

The healing journey for the children that have experienced child abuse and neglect can be extremely painful. With the help of BIKERS FOR JUSTICE the healing processes can start. We work closely with the families, state, and local agencies to protect children.

BIKERS FOR JUSTICE’s mission simple Every child has the right to feel safe in their environment. We look to give a child it is power back.  They will know that we got their backs, and they need not be afraid.  We assist them in expressing themselves and to protect them to get their voice back to testify.

Remember: IF YOU SEE SOMETHING …SAY SOMETHING!  It might just save a child’s life. 

You can reach us day or night at our help line: 303-725-3159 or send us an email at bikersforjustice@gmail.com .

Great Things on the Horizon for the Local Motorcycle Museum

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By Laurie Montoya

There are a lot of cool motorcycle museums in this great Nation, but here in Colorado, we have one that we can call our own.

The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum was founded in 1992, and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Colorado entity. The museum is home to some beautifully restored and original antique machines spanning 1906 to 1976.

One thing that sets our motorcycle museum apart from most others in the world is the price of admission: FREE. Yes, I said free. While donations at the door are welcomed, there is no cost for anyone to enjoy the spectacular display of two wheeled history.

MOVIN’ ON UP

From 1992 through 2001, the museum made its home on Colorado Springs southside next door to High Country Custom Cycles. When the chopper shop was bought out by the local Harley-Davidson dealer, the Museum was relocated to a building adjacent to that dealership. After several years, the Museum relocated to the mezzanine level of the dealership, where it has remained ever since.

That long time home will soon be abandoned, as the museum relocates to a brand new, prestigious location in downtown Colorado Springs.

Joining the new “City Works Eatery” complex, the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum’s new address will be 19 North Tejon St., in the heart of Colorado Springs’ entertainment district. “We are very excited about our new location, and extremely proud to join with Sam and Kathy Guadagnoli on their new restaurant project.” Said Jim Wear, the Museum’s Executive Director. “Sam and I have been friends and business partners for decades, and we have always dreamed of a motorcycle themed eatery. When I approached the Museum’s Board of Directors with the idea, it was well received and is finally now coming to fruition.” Kathy Guadagnoli said, “Sam and I are very excited that the heart of downtown will be home to the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum! Sam’s prized possession is his 1906 Redding Standard, the first motorbike to go up Pikes Peak. It’s a real piece of local history and was show cased at the Broadmoor Carriage House Museum for many years. We will also have a retro ice cream and candy shop, with a tiny motorcycle that was formerly in “Sam’s” – the World’s smallest bar named in the Guinness World book of records. Visiting children can get their picture taken on the little motorcycle! This will be a great opportunity for families to eat, drink, and enjoy an amazing display of antique motorcycles, and we could not be more proud to be a part of it.” 

Aside from a newly remodeled, high-end location, the Museum will have more square footage and will have the ability for retail sales and exposure to a much larger, more diverse audience. “After nearly 30 years of having the Museum adjacent to motorcycle shops, it was pretty much the biker crowd that largely comprised our visitors. With this change in venue, we are sure to see much more of the general public. I mean to say that the motorcycle enthusiast will seek the museum out no matter where it is, but having the ability to expose the general public to the history of motorcycling and all of our antique and classic machines on display will go a long way to fulfilling our mission as an educational nonprofit entity.” Wear explained.

Several of Guadagnoli’s machines will also join the museums display. “Sam has a number of really nice antique bikes, many of which have lived in his garage all these years. Now, thousands of visitors will get to enjoy many of his machines and we are excited about and proud of the joint venture.”

MAKING THE GRADE

Click here to read more from Eagle Rider

Recently, the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum was named one of “12 of AMERICA’S BEST MOTORCYCLE MUSEUMS” by eaglerider.com.

“This is a huge deal for us.” Said Wear. “There are some spectacular museums on the list including the Harley-Davidson Factory Museum, Wheels Through Time, the AMA Hall of Fame Museum and the Peterson Automotive Museum. To see our humble museum standing side-by-side with these giants is extremely humbling and very encouraging,” explained Wear, “We never set out to become famous. We just wanted a place to share our antique machines and our love of them and their history with the public.”

PROPER RECOGNITION

Another huge accomplishment for The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum came recently when their all original, one owner 1956 Harley Davidson FLH Panhead was featured on the cover of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America’s magazine. The machine was also showcased in the “Exhibit A” section of the publication with an eight-page color layout. “The AMCA feature is an incredible honor for us,” said Wear. “Only six bikes a year get the cover and the Exhibit A feature. There are tens of thousands of beautiful, original machines amongst the membership of the AMCA, and to have one of our bikes chosen from a pool of such spectacular machinery is truly humbling.” Wear added, “It was a combined effort by our Board of Directors to secure this special bike for the museum, and we are proud to be its caretaker.”

The 1956 Panhead that Wear speaks of was sold brand new by Borgstetd’s Harley-Davidson dealership in Pueblo Colorado to US Army Veteran John Deatherage. John lovingly cared for the bike and kept it in pristine original condition until his passing in 2018. Despite some stiff competition for its purchase from many collectors, the Museum ended up with this unbelievably original machine, now known as “John D’s Cherry Pepper.”

“The bike has become world-famous, maybe more famous than our museum itself, in a very short time. No one disputes that this is likely the nicest example of an all original rigid frame panhead known to exist.” Wear added, “Due to the manner in which the owner stored the motorcycle, free of any sunlight and in a climate-controlled environment, the bike is literally like new.”

Colorado Rider News readers can look forward to seeing John D’s Cherry Pepper in its new home at The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum, 19 North Tejon St. in Colorado Springs when the museum opens in collaboration with City Works Eatery this spring. Cole Deister, a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors told us, “I think I can speak for my fellow board members in saying how excited we are for this new venue. Our other board members are from all over the United States and although they needed a little excuse to visit our wonderful state, this new venue will quickly become a destination location for them and others from all over the world. It will also be a way to introduce non enthusiasts to the hobby we love so much. I can’t wait to invite friends and family to join us for a day at the museum and to enjoy a world class meal in downtown Colorado Springs!

For more information, check out the Museum’s new website at www.themotorcyclemuseum.com.

Top 12 USA Museums link:

https://support.eaglerider.com/12-of-americas-best-motorcycle-museums?fbclid=IwAR1s2H4cjL0vgHofjRIfTaDbO_pOwts3_tBR0g6VDLpj-I87MIl-BrEBrIs

BikerDown offers new stickers to try and get the message to distracted drivers

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BikerDown Foundation’s mission is always to help injured motorcycle riders. A large part of that mission is getting out motorcycle awareness, distracted driving in all its forms including driver’s using hand held mobile devices and texting and driving.

Every year our community suffers many accidents due to careless drivers. To continue to support our mission, BikerDown has created these motorycle helmet or vehicle stickers with a very strong message. GET OFF THE F**CKIN PHONE!

BikerDown just released some new awareness t-shirts that they hope the community will purchase to support BikerDown. You can purchase them on our website store

Click HERE to purchase on their online store

BikerDown Foundation runs on the generosity of the biker community. If you know of someone who has been injured in a motorcycle accident, please do a help request on their website www.bikerdown.org

BikerDown’s Adopt a Family for Holidays Meets Goals with Help from Special Donor

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Adopt a Family raised over $14k for families in need!

There is nothing more stressful than the holidays for families, whether it is the COVID world that we currently live in with job layoffs, food service industry shutdowns and in-home learning requiring 1 family member to not work.   Also, the normal high cost of living in Denver and surrounding areas makes it difficult for any extras each month.  Gone are the days, when a family can put a little away every month, or the Christmas savings accounts one used to open every year to save for the holidays.  Families struggle every year to provide the kind of Christmas that all children deserve.

BikerDown Foundation saw the need in the motorcycle community 10 years ago and implemented a holiday program called Adopt A Family for the Holidays.  Since its inception BikerDown thru Adopt A Family has helped over 500 families have the resources to provide Christmas for their children.

Each family in the program receives a $250 Walmart gift card and partnered with Walmart to provide a full holiday dinner and to ensure that children have food to get them thru the New Year.  What makes our program different is they allow donors to see their donations at work by meeting with the families, reading about their circumstances and getting to personally meet them at our Dinner with Santa. 

Their goal in 2020 was to help as many families as they could but to also be realistic that everyone in our community was struggling and that donations could possibly be down this year.  Adopt A Family even limited the number of families that could apply to 40 families, from the normal 75-100.  BikerDown Adopt A Family also expanded their reach in 2019 to include the Las Vegas BikerDown chapter which each year has reached their family goals with the guidance of Shannon Venturo from Full Throttle Law & Bling Devas, MC, Cheryl from Original Sinners, MC and the Southern Nevada Confederation of Clubs.

On December 11, 2020, with 2 weeks away from Christmas, they began to get very worried that they just would not meet the goal of helping 40 families. On Wednesday, December 16, Laurie Montoya, President and Founder of BikerDown and Adopt A Family, received a phone call that she will never forget.
Michael Lord, a local Denver entrepreneur, called to adopt the last 4 families in our program. Mike then asked if there were any other families that they could help. In a matter of minutes, Mike and his co-workers adopted 10 additional families that were on the waitlist!

The program would be remiss to not recognize all the Colorado donors of this program, that each year make sure to adopt at least 1-2 families.  These biker community donors have been the back bone of our program for 10 years and Adopt a Family would not have been able to survive and increase our help without their commitment every year.  We would like to give special recognition to Scott O’Sullivan from RiderJustice.com and The O’Sullivan Law firms, Greg & Brooklyn Chmel, Art and Khris Cleveland, Derek from Ironwood Earthcare, BO Martinez, Skip Hohnhorst, Eli Ohlauser, Deborah Thomas, Kevin Maki, and all of you who attended the November Chili cook off.  You are truly a blessing to this program.

Adopt A Family will continue the mission in 2021 and we look forward to bigger and better events that will enable us to extend our reach to more and more families.


We will all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I hope you will raise your glass and join me in say FAREWELL to 2020.

SAVE THE DATE – Holiday Events

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As the holiday season begins, we are committed to posting all upcoming events for November – December. For more information on these events, please contact them directly. If you would like your event to be added to this list, please email us at info@coloradoridernews.com

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Adopt-A-Family for the Holidays – Nominations are open until November 30th

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Please visit our website for more information

BikerDown Foundation is in our 9th year of Adopting Families for the Holidays program.  The program started with the desire to help 2 families that had suffered a tragic loss due to a motorcycle fatality.  While we knew we couldn’t replace the loss they were feeling, we could ensure that the family wasn’t alone and that the children had Christmas under the tree.

The Adopt-a-Family program has helped almost 450 families over the years and the need for families in the Denver and surrounding areas continues to grow as rent and the cost of living increases.   In 2020 due to COVID-19, this has affected many families in ways they could not imagine.  Many parents are still not back to work, children cannot attend school and parents are forced to stay home.

As we enter the holiday season many of us begin to feel joy and excitement as we get closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, for many families in our community, they begin to WORRY about how they are going to make their children’s Christmas wishes would come true.

This year the Adopt-a-Family program is going back to our grass roots and have limited each state to 25 families to ensure that we meet our goal of fundraising.  We see this as a challenging year for all.

BikerDown with the help of Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden will host a Freezin for a Reason Chili Cook off and Toy Drive on November 28th after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  All teams are encouraged to pre-register for this event and we will have great prizes for the winners.

Adopt-A-Family has not yet determined their ability to hold the Lunch/Dinner with Santa which is where we normally distribute the gifts to the families.  We will work very hard to manage a program that meets local guidelines and continue to make the event the BEST that we can make it.

All of this wouldn’t be possible without the help of Walmart, Rider Justice, BikerDown sponsors, riders and our biker owned business supporters, each family receives a $250.00 Walmart  gift card.  Adopt-a-Family has a direct line to Santa Claus and he always comes to visit the children and bring some gifts for them.

This year we are on an aggressive fundraising effort to help over 75 families, but we need your help, if you would like to Donate to our program please visit our website at  www.adoptafamilytoday.org.  This website is also where we ask all families to request adoption.

Winners of BikerDown’s Customized Wheelchair Competition

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Motorcycle Awareness and bringing unity to the biker community is the Mission of the BikerDown Foundation. Saturday, October 17th, Five (5) teams from the riding community gathered at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden to present their customized wheelchairs. Another phase of the day was a medical equipment drive to collect additional medical equipment that BikerDown loans out to the injured riders in the Colorado community.

RiderJustice.com is the advocacy arm of the O’Sullivan Law firm one of the premier motorcycle law firms in Colorado

Sponsor Rider Justice had donated 10 standard wheelchairs to get the competition started and to ensure that all teams had the same wheelchair to work with. The teams had several months to use their creativity and get their club, ministry or groups message reflected in the wheelchair. Teams were judged on their creativity, usefulness of the wheelchair and overall presentation

1st place and People’s choice winner Soldier’s for Jesus Colorado

The 1st place winner of the competition and People’s choice winner was Soldier’s for Jesus of Colorado. Their chair showed so much creativity and was completely functional for an injured rider because the whole electric chair design came off so that the injured rider could use it.

2nd Place went to Biker’s For Justice an group that helps abused children in the Denver area

2nd place was given to Biker’s for Justice a riding group that helps abused children here in Denver. Thomas Train was their inspiration for their customized wheelchair and Fuzz, Founder of Rider Justice pulled out all the stops with steam coming out the train pipe, a track for Thomas and a bell to let everyone know that Thomas the Train is riding thru. This wheelchair is so amazing, that BikerDown has asked Biker’s for Justice to work with us to donate the chair to Children’s Hospital in Denver, so that a child in the hospital might get to enjoy Thomas.

3rd Place went to the Sober Souls, MC – Sober Souls is a motorcycle club that enjoys a sober life and helps anyone in their journey to recovery.

Sober Souls, MC – 3rd place – This was one of CRN’s favorites because every time you came to see their booth, you found something else they had done to customize this chair including but not limited to the brass nuts, and brass knuckles on the arm rests. BikerDown Foundation has had a long standing friendship with the Sober Souls, MC and we were so honored that they participated in this competition.

Christian Riders in Faith spared no expense on this candy apple red HD wheelchair

All teams were WINNERS in this event and we want to give a special mention to the Christian Riders in Faith motorcycle ministry who really got creative in their wheelchair from the leg rests to the split HD tank on the sides or the arm rest. The paint job was amazing, and I just know that they next injured riders will be rocking this beautiful red wheelchair.

420 from Valiants MC North had but 2 weeks to customize this FAST wheelchair.

Honorable Mention goes to 420 from the Valiants MC for their customized wheelchair. 420 did an outstanding job of customizing this wheelchair and while most people didn’t know this they were a last minute entry and only had 2 weeks to get their chair done. A HUGE thank you to everyone from the Valiants MC, they have over 10 years of supporting BikerDown and are 1 of the reasons that this organization exists.

After the event and awards were distributed there was a rumor between the teams that they wanted to RACE their wheelchairs around Dirty Dogs. It was finally decided that the teams would do 2 laps around the Dirty Dogs. You quickly learn how difficult it is to get around on a wheelchair, so some of the contestants got a little help from their team members.

All in all it was an amazing day and because of these teams efforts, BikerDown has 5 new cool wheelchairs to donate to injured riders. They also were able to fill their trailer with donated medical equipment including a almost brand new Electric Scooter donated by Jocelyn Cavender who contacted Home Medical Supplies in Lone Tree for the donation.