IFMR-NA: Welcome to our website, from President Bob Shriner.

Chapter President Robert D. Shriner 7347 Stuart Circle Warrenton, VA 20187 540-349-8193 bob@shriner.com

IFMR "Fall Foliage" Get-Together Twenty-nine riders and passengers on 19 bikes turned out for the 2011 IFMR "Fall Foliage" Weekend Get-Together at Snowshoe Resort in the West Virginia mountains last weekend. Riders came from as far afield as Ontario, Minnesota, and Georgia as well as points in between. Here's a photo of most of the group just before they left for a 200-mile ride in the Allegheny Highlands on a chilly but sunny Saturday morning. Great ride! Great scenery! And Great Fun & Fellowship!!!

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For Immediate Release – May 20, 2011

Motorcycling Rotarians Raise $50,000 for Rotary Club's Polio Eradication Effort

New Orleans, LA:  In a brief ceremony at the Moreal Convention Center this morning, John Germ, Vice Chairman of the Rotary Foundation, accepted a check from the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians (IFMR) presented by Robert Shriner, president of the North American chapter of the fellowship.  IFMR riders collected some $50,000 in donations and pledges thru sponsorships of their rides to New Orleans to attend the annual Rotary International Convention at the Moreal Center.

   IFMR members rode to New Orleans from various parts of the country, raising money from friends and fellow Rotarians for Rotary's POLIO PLUS campaign.  Each rider tried to raise $1/mile, or a minimum of $1,000 each, if possible.  Groups of riders assembled for the rides starting at five major areas – Seattle, Sacramento, Chicago, Miami, and Albany, NY.  All five rides converged yesterday in Baton Rouge, along with other individual riders who arrived independently.  This morning they all rode together to New Orleans – 52 riders, plus passengers – with a police escort provided by the Blue Knights, a motorcycle club of off-duty police officers. 

   When they arrived at the Moreal Convention Center they were greeted by a large crowd of Rotarians and others, and were welcomed to the Rotary International Convention by Rotary president Ray Klinginsmith and Rotary Foundation vice chair John Germ.  IFMR chapter president Robert Shriner then presented the Rotary leaders with the ceremonial check, along with the actual donations and pledges gathered by the riders.

    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently gave the Rotary Foundation a $200 million matching grant for Rotary's POLIO PLUS program to deliver vaccines to children in the few remaining parts of the world where polio is still a widespread and deadly disease.  The funds raised by IFMR members will help the Rotary Foundation meet its matching fund commitment to the Gates Foundation.

     IFMR is a world-wide fellowship of Rotary Club members who enjoy and share the sport of motorcycling, travel, and community service, across boundaries and borders -- one of the many fellowship groups created by and for Rotarians around the world.  Founded in the early 1990s, it now has 17 chapters covering every continent in the world (except Antartica).