Hundreds of motorcycles will ride from St. Charles to Carol Stream for fentanyl awareness

Fentanyl awareness group My Child’s Life Matters will host an upcoming motorcycle ride from St. Charles to Carol Stream.

On Aug. 2, hundreds of motorcycles will meet in St. Charles and ride to Carol Stream to spread awareness about fentanyl and support families who are grieving fentanyl-related deaths.

The rally will be the ninth annual “Ride for John–Remember US ALL” event organized by My Child’s Life Matters. The group’s mission is to spread awareness, reduce stigma, influence legislative reform and open the conversation about fentanyl poisoning.

The ride will begin at Alley 64 at 212 W. Main St. in St. Charles and end at the Carol Stream Town Center at 960 N. Gary Ave.

Participants will meet at Alley 64 for breakfast from 9 to 10:45 a.m., with live music from Moonshine Bros. Kickstands will go up at 11 a.m.

The caravan is scheduled to reach the Carol Stream Town Center by 1:45 p.m. when riders will adorn the memorial wall with photos of victims of fentanyl poisoning.

Speeches will begin at 2:15 p.m., featuring DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, Hinsdale Village President Greg Hart and DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin. DEA representatives will also be at the event promoting the agency’s “One Pill Can Kill” campaign.

“JohnFest” will be held in the park at the town center from 3 to 6 p.m., featuring live music from Southern Jack, food and drinks, raffles, silent auctions and other vendors.

The event is open to the public, and those wishing to participate should register online at mychildslifematters.org/rideforjohn.

Registration is $30 per rider and $10 per passenger. Proceeds will pay for T-shirts and food during the event, and any remaining funds will be put into the charity.

My Child’s Life Matters was founded in 2016 by Kathy and Robb Zander following their son’s death. The Zanders’ son, John M. Allen, died from a fentanyl overdose on July 26, 2016. The organization was founded with the purpose of helping other families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl.

“I told my husband that my son wasn’t going to go down as another statistic, so we started the ride,” Kathy Zander said.

She said the goal of the event is not to raise money but to show families that they aren’t suffering alone. She said she hopes more and more families will participate and feel comfortable talking openly and without judgment.

“It’s just a ripple effect that destroys the whole family,” Zander said.

In addition to its annual events, My Child’s Life Matters regularly helps families by paying for counseling for siblings who have been left behind, family support therapy and marriage counseling.

“Now, we’re focused on the families that are suffering in silence with the stigma, and they don’t have anyone to talk to,” Zander said. “The stigma of, ‘Your kid is a deadbeat junkie’ – I mean, you name it, we’ve heard it.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is considered much deadlier than heroin and was the main contributor to a huge spike in overdose deaths since the early 2010s, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers of U.S. deaths from opioid-related overdoses topped out at about 80,000 in 2023.

“Back in ’16, I didn’t even know what fentanyl was. I couldn’t even spell it,” Zander said. “Now, it’s an everyday thing.”

During the event, riders carry pictures of children lost to the fentanyl epidemic. The tradition started about six years ago, with 200 photographs.

This year, 1,100 photographs will be paraded by the riders and adorned on the memorial wall in Carol Stream, some of children as young as 18-months-old.

Near the end of the event, guests will each receive a balloon and write the name of a loved one on it, before releasing them all together.

After the event, photos will remain on the memorial for community members to visit and pay respects.

Zander said last year’s ride had nearly 200 bikes, and she is hoping to have close to 500 this year.