NAPLES — Okaloosa County Deputy Bill Myers is among six fallen first responders being honored in the Brotherhood Ride 2016.
Participants are more than 30 bicycle riders who will ride 600 miles through Florida in seven days, an average of 8 to 100 miles in honor of five fallen heroes from Florida and one from Georgia, and 15 support members.
The ride will begin in North Naples on July 23, and includes stops in Arcadia, Lakeland, Ocala, Perry, Carrabelle, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach, where the ride ends July 29.
The Brotherhood Ride organization consists of firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel who ride bicycles to honor emergency first responders who died in the line of duty. Their mission is to provide emotional and financial support to the families on or near the anniversary of their death.
The Brotherhood Ride is a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity organization. Other than the cost of conducting the rides, all donated proceeds go directly to the beneficiaries designated. No one is compensated for their time in order to maximize the impact of donations.
The 2016 ride is dedicated to Myers, who died Sept 22, 2015; Police Officer Jared Forsyth of the Ocala Police Department, who died April 6, 2015; Lt. Randy Parker of the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department in Georgia, who died Feb. 11, 2015; K9 Igor of the Kissimmee Police Department, who died April 21, 2015; and K9s Jimmy and Hector of the Hialeah Police Department, who died May 27, 2015.
To make a donation, purchase T-shirts or be a sponsor, go to www.brotherhoodride.com. You may also follow the team on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Brotherhood Ride honors Okaloosa deputy, first responders