Ohio Gorillas motorcycle club delivers Thanksgiving to area families
NEW PHILADELPHIA (November 22, 2024) – A biker gang rolled through the area Friday morning carrying enough frozen turkeys and Thanksgiving dinners to feed about 80 families.
That was the New Philadelphia-based Ohio Gorillas, a motorcycle club formed this past summer to make a difference in the community. Zach Garbrandt is a member.
“When we started our club we said that we wanted to be a community based club. Everyone here individually had already been active members of the community,” Zach Garbrandt said. “At one of our first meetings we talked about doing a Thanksgiving drive because we all come from a spot of misfortune in our lives and we thought we’re at a spot now where we can give back.”
The Gorillas reached out to businesses, school districts and the community to collect donations and deliver Thanksgiving meals to families who could use a helping hand. Club member Ron McAbier, New Philadelphia’s service director, says the results exceeded expectations.
“It was just a real community event,” he said. “We’re just fortunate we’re surrounded by so many great partners in this. When we went out there, it was overwhelming.”
Brian Bonifay of Bonifay Built and Eian Burcher of New Phila Barbell were among the local businesses participating. They said they filled their office with donations twice.
“I think it’s a real good thing. I think their club is a real good thing,” Bonifay said. “I was seriously overwhelmed with how much [was donated.”
Club members met at their headquarters on 1st Drive SW behind The Venue restaurant, loaded up their pickup trucks (it was a little cold and wet for motorcycles) and delivered boxes of meals in five area school districts. New Philadelphia social workers Janna Leeper and Lexi Begue welcomed the Gorillas at Welty Middle School.
“We’re so excited to have the Ohio Gorillas come in today because they helped touch many lives in the community and help out at Thanksgiving,” Begue said. “We are very thankful that they found us and reached out to us and could make this happen.”
Lionel Woods says they were all friends when they decided to form the Ohio Gorillas motorcycle club this past summer. They have tough-sounding nicknames like L Train, Kong, Big Daddy and Mac, but their actions show a much gentler side.
“We ride our bikes hard, but at the end of the day we talk about that as an image for our club is not to be feared when we come in,” Woods said. “We want to be respected. We want everybody to look at us and say, hey, if I need some help, they can come talk to us and [we can] be a positive impact in the community.”
The Ohio Gorillas are in the early stages of planning a toy drive for Christmas. Find them on Facebook to see how to help.
