Motorcycle Therapy

My name is Crystal Hess. I'm the founder and director of Motorcycle Missions. So we're here at Circuit of the Americas for Moto Up. So Moto Up is a foundation that raises money for other veteran nonprofits that aid veterans and first responders with PTSD through motorsports. So we do a throttle therapy program and then we have a shop program with Motorcycle Missions. And the shop program includes building custom built motorcycles. There's one behind me right now that we built and we also do welding and fabricating training. And then we also do six different kinds of motorcycle riding on tracks, closed courses, which includes anything from motocross, land speed racing, adventure bike riding, track days, mini GP, and then we also have a Gold Star Kids program. So Motorcycle Missions is the beneficiary of this event today through Moto Up. So Moto Up has brought in their partners and their sponsors to host this great event. All of us enjoying this amazing suite and all the good things that come with it, but all of it benefits Motorcycle Missions and my program. So last year they raised $110,000, but any amount is very greatly appreciated. It goes towards our program. It helps us buy more bikes, get more veterans, their M endorsement gets them riding and wrenching and healing. Motor sports can be different things to different people, but a lot of people really enjoy the Comradery is what they say, n The Comradery brings everybody together around a motorcycle. So the Comradery though, n Then it's the motorcycle itself. It's the using your hands, using your brain, trying to overcome obstacles, figure out how to put this together, make a really badass motorcycle that you can share that accomplishment with their fellow builders that are also fellow veterans and first responders. So that's a really kind of unifying part of our program where they get to heal without even realizing their healing just by being present, being there and building a bike with their fellow veterans. So we have a lot of guys that go through our program, they don't know what they want to do when they come out of service, they're kind of lost because they had this one mission and the one mission is no longer there and the guys that they served with are no longer there either, they've all gone to their respective homes. So a lot of these guys don't have anyone to hang out with on a Thursday night. Why not come down to motorcycle missions and weld a box and learn something new. So we have a lot of veterans that go through our program that end up doing stuff So then the throttle therapy part of it is the adrenaline part. So twisting that throttle, getting that speedometer up, So it's their goal to get over 200 when they're here on track. It's hopefully doing one lap or your one session safely and back in and you've grown and learn new skills with each lap that you do. Then you take that out onto the street. So there's all sorts of different aspects of it. The adrenaline certainly is a part that they're missing as well from their service. It keeps their minds off what's bothering them, off what's, Get some focus on the mission, which is just riding your motorcycle in the moment and enjoying yourself. Motorcycle missions love Moto Up because it gets a whole bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts together and some people who've never even been to a motorcycle race and it introduces them to this world that we love and also gives them a chance to support our mission through Moto Up and their partners to help raise money so that we can provide more equipment, more bikes, more shop space, more tools, more opportunities for our veterans and first responders to grow and heal. So MotorcycleMissions. org is our website. You can go there, you can donate there, you can sign up for our classes there if you're a veteran or first responder. It's all free. None of our programs cost the dime. So you can go there. You can also find us on Instagram at MotorcycleMissions or on Facebook as well.