Deacons Distribute Another $20K to Three Houston-Area Charities

HOUSTON (June 16) -- Continuing its mission of giving back to the community, the Deacons of Deadwood Motorcycle Club recently distributed $20,000 to three local charities: Addi's Faith, Joe Joe Bear, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston.Charity committee members Fred Tyler and Steve Abney introduced Amber Bender of Addi's Faith, Dick Huiras of Joe Joe Bear, and Mike Rosenbaum of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston to the membership at a recent meeting just before presenting them with large donations from the club's coffers."The Deacons have been great to us," said Bender, who collected $10,000 from Tyler. "They've been a wonderful addition to our organization. We've been connected for two years now, and they've just been a huge help in giving deserving families the financial support they need."Each month we are getting more and more applications from all over the world, and they are all heartbreaking stories and families truly in need of help. We can only do so much, so obviously the more help we get from the Deacons and everybody else that supports us, the more families we are able to help. It's huge. It's really hard to say no to somebody, so to have these added funds is great."Founded by Amber and Tony Bender soon after they lost their own child, Addison Faith, to cancer at age 2, Addi's Faith is dedicated to ending childhood cancer. The organization funds childhood cancer research and provides financial and emotional support to families struggling to care for a child with cancer.Up next was Huiras from Joe Joe Bear, a Houston-based non-profit organization focused on delivering around-the-clock comfort for children facing life-threatening illness by providing them with new teddy bears. Tyler presented Huiras a check for $7,500."This will go a long way to helping a whole bunch of children feel better," Huiras said. "It sounds simple, but when a child needs hospital care, it's a scary situation for them, and we've found that giving a child a teddy bear provides so much comfort for them."The Deacons of Deadwood have embraced our mission and helped us so much. We even had a Deacons-themed Joe Joe Bear with a little leather motorcycle vest, and the Deacons sold a bunch of those for us as well. To get this check tonight speaks to the generosity and spirit of this motorcycle club and its members."Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston is the newest approved charity to the Deacons family of beneficiaries. The organization pairs "Bigs" with "Littles" to provide positive role models in the lives of the "Littles". Funding is needed to recruit new volunteers, cover the cost of background checks, and pay for proper training. The first Deacons donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston was $2,500."We are honored to start this relationship with the Deacons of Deadwood," Rosenbaum said. "Not only for the funding, which obviously will help us a great deal, but also for the many members that are expressing interest in becoming Big Brothers themselves.""We're enjoying an extraordinary season of giving," said Deacons President Geoff Seaman. "We've already distributed a dozen checks to our approved charities, and what we're seeing is that many of these groups rely heavily on our yearly contributions. It makes us all very proud to be able to make a difference."A huge thanks to everyone that supports our two main fundraisers, the annual golf tournament before the Shell Houston Open and our legendary Deacons Ball, which this year occurs Sept. 24 at the Bayou City Event Centre with Vince Neil, the legendary voice of Motley Crue, as the headliner. The auctions and raffle we hold at the ball and the VIP tables and individual tickets we sell provide a big portion of what we distribute to these deserving charities, along with our members digging deep into their own pockets. I encourage people to visit DeaconsofDeadwood.org and get involved."