25th annual Ronald McDonald House motorcycle ride returns to New York Mills

Motorcycles will line up at New York Mills VFW Post #3289 on June 13 for the 25th annual Ronald McDonald House Motorcycle Ride, a local fundraiser that has now raised more than $1 million for families whose children need medical care far from home.

The ride has become a summer fixture in New York Mills, held each year on the second Saturday in June and planned by RMH Ride, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley says the event starts at the VFW in New York Mills and that net proceeds go directly to the Red River Valley Ronald McDonald House, helping keep parents close when a child is hospitalized away from home.

Organizers describe a much bigger effort than a single-day ride. The group says the event has raised over $1 million since 2001, while RMH Ride materials say total fundraising has climbed close to $2 million over the past 20-plus years. That kind of steady support explains why the ride has lasted: riders, donors and sponsors have kept returning to back a cause with a clear local and regional impact.

The scale is part of the draw. A New York Mills community page calls it the world’s largest Ronald McDonald House benefit ride and says it can host up to 1,000 riders each year. Earlier coverage described the route as a 150-mile run from New York Mills to Verndale to Wolf Lake and back, underscoring how the event reaches well beyond one town and pulls in riders from across the lakes area.

The ride has also shown it can generate significant one-year totals. The 22nd annual event brought in more than $100,000 in cash donations and 5 million aluminum pop tabs to be sold for scrap, adding to a fundraising model that combines motorcycles, volunteer labor and community giving. For Otter Tail County residents, the June 13 ride offers a direct way to support a long-running local tradition that has already translated into years of help for families at the Red River Valley Ronald McDonald House.