A recent charity event with Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis began at Iranian-American Oliver Shokouh’s Harley-Davidson/Buell of Glendale motorcycle shop.
On February 27, the Ride4Haiti charity event with Jean-Louis of the NBC show “Heroes” raised money for Hollywood Unites for Haiti-a charity that Jean-Louis founded for the earthquake victims of Haiti. The starting point of the event was at Shokouh’s Glendale Harley shop.
Shoukouh is also the founder of the annual Love Ride charity event, an event dubbed as “The Largest One-Day Motorcycle Fund-Raising Event in the World.” The event usually brings in thousands of bikers for a 35-mile ride to Castaic Lake, located within the Angeles National Forest.
All proceeds from the event are contributed to various causes. In its 25 years, the charity event has raised $22 million for for groups ranging from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to the effort to help Haitians rebuild after their country suffered the earthquake in January.
Over the years, celebrities like Peter Fonda, Jay Leno, Robert Patrick, Eric Bana, Lorenzo Lamas, Larry Hagman, Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen, Dwight Yoakam, the Doobie Brothers, Sammy Hagar and many others have attended and raced in the Love Ride. Musicians such as Crosby, Stills & Nash, BB King, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, ZZ Top and the Foo Fighters have performed at various Love Rides.
According to the Love Ride website, Shokouh began raising money for the MDA in 1981 after Harley-Davidson had become an official corporate sponsor. It was then that Shokouh decided to throw the first Biker Carnival at his dealership, which raised $1,500 for the MDA, a mere pittance. But it soon took off as a major fund-raiser. The event has an attendance now of nearly 25,000 participants and includes about 20,000 riders.
More information on the Love Ride will be found at www.loveride.org.
