4 weeks ago a simple conversation over dinner between Michael Chapman from Ray White Mooloolaba, his partner Danielle Parés from Ray White Nambour and a couple of veteran friends and set the scene for what would quickly flourish into a full day Motorcycle Rally and Community Fundraising event.
Ride4Vets was founded and the rest is history as they say!
4 weeks later, the first inaugural Ride4Vets event took place on the Labour Day long weekend with over 130 riders in attendance and $3,000 raised for Young Veterans Sunshine Coast. If it wasn’t for a downpour in the early hours of the morning discouraging many southern riders from attending, numbers could have easily exceeded 150.
As a veteran and passionate motorbike enthusiast, Michael and Danielle combined their love for motorcycles with their strong family history in the military into an event that could be shared with all in the community.
Michael served in the Army in the mid 90’s. In the late 2000’s, Michael’s cousins Ashley and Dale Birt also joined the army where on the 29th October 2011 Ashley was killed in Afghanistan at age 22. Danielle’s parents served over 20 years in the Navy, and on the day of the rally, Michael received notice that his nephew had just been accepted into the Army, following in his footsteps.
The rally was held in Michael’s cousin, Ashley Birt’s honour, with several veterans who served alongside Ashley attending the event, including one who tried in valliently to revive Ashley on that fateful day.
With over 30,000 veterans calling the Sunshine Coast home, Michael and Danielle’s passion for assisting our veterans with their integration back into society has now become a stable event to be held on the Sunday of every Labour Day weekend in honour of our veterans.
The event not only brought together the military and civilian community, it also presented Michael & Danielle and the Ray White brand to the military community as a trusted and supportive brand of our veterans in the real estate industry.
