Legacy Run donations break another record
(Photo by Schelly Stone)

Legacy Run donations break another record

After more than 1,000 miles traversed from Hutchinson, Kan., to Anoka, Minn., The American Legion Riders had helped raise more than $600,000 for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund. But they weren’t close to being done.

Five days after the 13th annual American Legion Legacy Run ended, Legion Riders gathered on the 100th annual American Legion National Convention stage to present donations to the Legacy Fund. By the time the donations were finished, a record $1,256,930 had been raised – the fifth-straight year the ride has raised more than $1 million.

“It is difficult for those of you who are not involved with The American Legion Riders to understand the passion that the men and women in The American Legion Family have for our fellow veterans, their families, the community and to the memory of our fallen comrades,” said Legionnaire Bob Sussan, chairman of the National American Legion Riders Advisory Committee and the chief road captain for the Legacy Run.

The American Legion Department of Minnesota led the way, donating $251,000 on the national convention floor -- $51,000 more than the department delivered a year ago. Other top department donations on Tuesday were the departments of Missouri ($93,324), South Carolina ($65,204), Florida ($57,005), Wisconsin ($45,439), and Kansas ($27,717). And Stevens-Christian Post 557 in Wintersville, Ohio, contributed $15,000.

The five-day Legacy Run left Kansas and traveled through Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin before finishing outside of Minneapolis. More than 200 motorcycles completed the ride.

The Legacy Fund provides college money for the children of U.S. military personnel killed on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001, as well as children of post-9/11 veterans with a combined VA disability rating of 50 percent or higher.