ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST ANNUAL BCHET Ride-A-Thon!
- The Ride-A-Thon will take place the entire month of April 2021.
- All participants must sign up between January 1- March 21, 2021 and will be given a ride packet to include a sponsor sign-up sheet and a ride log to record their rides, as well as information about BCHET, our vital role in our communities, and what their sponsorship dollars mean to the Club. All participants will then obtain sponsors, who will commit to a dollar amount for every mile ridden by their participant, or straight donations of any amount are accepted.
- Outposts can decide how they want to participate. Outposts can schedule group rides in the allotted time frame if desired, and / or members can ride on their own. Ride any time (within the month of April) and any place you want. Just be sure to record the date of the ride, name of the trail and the number of miles ridden.
- The last day of the Ride-A-Thon will be Friday, April 30, and members are asked to collect funds from their sponsors and submit the donations to the Club no later than Friday, May 14, 2021. All checks should be made out to BCHET and a tax-deductible receipt will be provided to sponsors.
- The individuals receiving the largest, second largest, and third largest total donations will win a prize!
This is expected to be our principal fundraiser for 2021. Our organization is a designated 501c3 charitable organization that operates solely on the dues paid by members, fundraisers by the Club and the generosity of businesses and individuals. The money raised through this effort allows us to complete projects in our communities that improve use of public lands by all user groups.
For more information and a Ride-a-Thon packet (rules, sponsor form, etc.) please contact Mamie Hopton: girlofsumr@gmail.com
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WHO WE ARE:
We are the local chapter of the national organization Back Country Horsemen of America. Our mission is to work with governmental and private agencies to open and maintain trails for everyone to use and enjoy. Through our Buckaroos program, we are committed to educating youth and encouraging their involvement in the preservation of our public lands, with an emphasis on equestrian use.
Back Country Horsemen chapters can be found in 31 states and our local chapter, Back Country Horsemen of East Tennessee, reaches 9 counties including Greene, Cocke, Washington, Unicoi, Carter, Sullivan, Hawkins, Hamblen and Johnson. We currently have over 130 members divided among 5 Outposts. Our organization collectively logged more than 1900 volunteer hours in 2020. We have sponsored numerous Buckaroos events throughout the year to reach out to local youth, many of whom are underprivileged and may not otherwise have an opportunity to be involved with horses. This includes a donation of $600 worth of horse-related books to county libraries and our member-funded Christmas Book Drive to provide free books and other materials to local children as well as a Christmas Essay Contest with riding lessons as the prize. We have spear-headed the construction of two parking areas to improve access to trails by hikers, bikers and riders in the Roan Mountain area. We have constructed hitching rails at the popular Meadow Creek Fire Tower and painted over graffiti on the tower itself. Our impact can be found in numerous areas of our communities, and our goal is to work even harder to further our mission.
Back Country Horsemen of East Tennessee appreciates your donation in support of our mission to keep public lands open to everyone for now, and for generations to come.