Motorcycle Club holds concert for Make-A-Wish

They may look tough in their leather jackets and thick beards, but the Chauns Motorcycle Club has a soft spot for helping children in need.

This weekend, the CMC is throwing the inaugural Island County “Chaunsert,” a full-throttle weekend of music, food and fundraising to help make kids’ wishes come true. The Chaunsert will run July 11-13 at Bell’s Farm on North Whidbey.

John Ellis, president of the Chauns Motorcycle Club and a founder of the charity motorcycle club based out of Missouri, recently started a new chapter on Whidbey. The club’s mission is to raise funds for people affected by cancer, devastating diseases or natural disasters.

On the island, with just a five-man team, the group has brought aid to people in distress: funding a cross-country vacation for a man with terminal cancer, raising money for an organ transplant, and more.

“The most awesomest high you could ever get is when you give a bunch of money to a family that is going through a devastating, you know, time in their life,” Ellis said.

This year, the CMC reached out to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in hopes of sponsoring a child. Members were quoted $10,000 to make a child’s wish come true.

While in past years, the Chauns club has raised around $8,000 at their car auctions, the club needed to come up with an event big enough to raise enough money for the Make-A-Wish kids. That’s when the idea for Whidbey’s inaugural Chaunsert blossomed: a concert fundraiser big enough to sponsor wishes for two Make-A-Wish kids. Ultimately, the fun-filled weekend will cater to both families and motorcycle enthusiasts alike.

Ellis called the fundraising event a “two-fer” because not only is it raising money for a cause, but by featuring local business owners and musicians, it will boost local tourism. The Chaunsert will showcase live music from local bands, merchant vendors, food vendors, T-shirt merch and a beer garden.

The food scene will feature everything from Italian dishes and kettle corn, to hot dogs, coffee and more. Even the CMC members will set aside their bikes and team up in the kitchen to cook breakfast for the community.

The weekend’s events include a club-built rotisserie hog roast, a mini poker run with prizes and a bike show.

The CMC will have no direct involvement with the kids at Make-A-Wish, other than the moment it hands over the money.

When it does, “the way that their face lights up, the emotions that boil up out of them, you know, you just kind of feed into that. You know that you did something great,” Ellis said.

Though the event is the club members’ biggest undertaking so far, they plan to do it again every year. So far, the team has spent $15,000 of their own money on making this a reality. However, they credit the community for truly making their charity events come to fruition.

“We don’t want the spotlight to go onto the motorcycle club. We want the spotlight to go on the generosity of the residents of Island County,” Ellis said. “This is what the people of Island County do, you know. We’re generous people and we come together for good causes like this.”

Limited Camping and RV parking is available on-site. Raffle and camping tickets may be purchased at the entrance. Campers can choose between $20 day tickets $50 weekend tickets.