Columbus, Ga. (June 20, 2019) – Calling it “the single largest gift” resulting from the 2018 Ride for Miracles, Scott Ressmeyer, organizer of the Miracle Riders, a group of local motorcycle riders who raise funds for charity, presented $100,000 toward a neonatal transport incubator to Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Campus today.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Miracle Riders for making such a generous gift,” Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Campus Chief Operating Officer Bill Tustin said. “This transport incubator will help us provide high-quality care for these vulnerable patients who are desperately in need. The Miracle Riders are helping us to keep our Piedmont ‘Promise’ – which is to make a positive difference in every life we touch.”
The AirBorne® Voyager Transport Incubator will be used by the hospital’s neonatal transport team. It is portable, customizable, and provides protection from the environment, infections, noise, and drafts, according to information provided by Piedmont Columbus Regional. Features include blood pressure and cardio/respiratory monitoring, a ventilator, and temperature control.
Specially trained registered nurses and respiratory therapists comprise the neonatal transport team. They travel in a specially equipped ambulance throughout the 21-county service area. The team recorded 219 transport calls in 2018 and have had 75 to date in 2019. Infants are transported to the 46-bed neonatal intensive care unit at the Midtown Campus hospital, one of only six regional perinatal referral centers in Georgia.
The Miracle Riders dedicated the new incubator to the memory of the late Craig “Lee” Chaddock, brother-in-law of Neonatologist Jerry Chen, M.D.
Synovus – the Bank of Here – was presenting sponsor for the 2018 Miracle Ride, as well as the 2017 Ride. “We appreciate the generous support of Synovus and all our sponsors and donors,” Ressmeyer said. “Without lead gifts like that of Synovus, and donations at all levels, we could not do what we do for children.”
In all, the 2018 Ride generated $130,500 in donations to benefit organizations serving children. In addition to Piedmont Columbus Regional, ride gifts went to Feeding the Valley,Open Door Community House, the Methodist Home for Children and Youth, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation-Georgia Chapter, and the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy (now Ferst Readers).
The ride began in 2009 when Ressmeyer set out alone on a ride through the 48 contiguous states to celebrate his 50th birthday and raise funds for the Children’s Hospital at Midtown Medical Center in Columbus. An additional 29 motorcyclists joined the ride over the next six years, raising more than $1 million for the hospital’s pediatric services.
After meeting their initial goal, the riders broadened their fundraising efforts to include other local services for children. In 2016 they established Scott’s Ride Fund in the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley. They have raised more than $339,000 for the fund.
The riders pay all their own expenses on the trips. Collectively, they have spent more than $525,000 of their own money to participate in the rides.
The next ride is scheduled for May 2020.
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