Last night marked the official launch of my fundraising for Mission: Send Louda to Africa. I arrived at the Dainese D-Store Costa Mesa a bit early, only to find that Tom (awesome store manager) had done a fantastic job of preparing for the event. I kept asking if I could do anything, but he really had this covered.

I’m not sure if you knew this about LA but there’s this thing that happens there called traffic. Well, this totally anomaly (snark) was definitely keeping a few people from getting there easily, but despite the awful road conditions, we had a great turn out. Much appreciation to those who made the effort.

DJ Lala set up her booth and set a great mood for mingling and food while Riders for Health had a great display to help people start catching up on why they might be there.

I gave a small speech and was pleasantly surprised at the number of hands that went up to ask questions about my trip. I love when people are engaged with me and responding to the purpose of why I’m there. I even had a request to come back with photographs and do a discussion after the Experience Africa ride, which I’m committed to doing.

Then we moved on to some belly dancing by the extremely sweet Jacquelina, who wowed the boys with her hip shimmies. It’s fun to watch the crowd when a pretty girl is in the room.

We had some great raffle items donated by Irv Seaver BMW Motorcycles, represented by Jim Foreman, Riders for Health offered some t-shirts, and Dainese had a great grand prize of a summer motorcycle jacket (an absolute must in Southern California).

After the raffle Jacquelina wowed the crowed with some fire belly dancing and helped put a nice cap on the evening. We all hung around the store for a while talking, answering questions, discussing Valentino Rossi, and all those good things that come with people who have something so passionate in common.

Thanks again to Tom Monroe, D-Store Manager. He said we raised more for this event than any other at the store.

For those of you who attended the event last night and want to make further donations, please visit my First Giving page. All money goes directly to Riders for Health.