Pike River fundraising ride

[Vinz0r]

Who's to say it is not needed....little Jonny may only be 6 and has lost his dad but he may wish to grow up and be a geologist ..... the $20 bucks that someone donates now could well help him when he is 15....it's not always the 'now' that is important, sometimes the future needs to be thought about. Having mum go on the DPB in Greymouth, well, not much hope for employment down there, not only has the mine closed but IRD just layed off a few down there as well. Every cent that goes into Greymouth will help not only the families but also the community.

I do see your point, but the payouts that have already been received by the families from the mining company and ACC should take any financial strain off of them for a long time.
As to your comment regarding Jonny wanting to be a geologist, that $20 could do a lot more good if given to any number of single mothers working their asses off to provide for their children because their husband was killed in a car crash but was not employed at the time so the mother received no compensation from ACC.

I'm going to stop posting here now as this is obviously a bit of a touchy subject to be discussing.

My heart goes out to all the families affected by the Pike River tragedy, R.I.P miners.

[MSTRS:Me]

My heart goes out to all the families affected by the Pike River tragedy, R.I.P miners.

+1

But I also agree with the 'what are the collections for?' sentiments as well.
Sure, 29 guys died in a workplace accident. That is a tragedy, but no worse than 1 being killed in each of 29 totally unrelated workplaces all round the country.
There are all sorts of insurances available to provide for one's dependents, pay off mortgages, etc. If someone on $80K doesn't bother with taking out that sort of cover, then why should those of us earning much less bother? You'll all have a whip round for my mortgage/family if I'm killed at work. Right?

I don't mean to sound callous and uncaring, but the above is the simple truth.

[Katman]

Personally, I was 'over' the whole mining disaster thing after the first 24 hours.

Regardless of whether the money raised is necessary, the fact remains that the ride showed motorcyclists in an extremely good light.

We should all be thankful for that.

[danchop]

a lot of people make a lot of money setting up trusts and donations,the media jumped on the pike donation wagon the day the thing happened because the media makes a lot of money advertising such donations,i cant see either why this tradgedy turns to money collecting.
susan couch was almost killed at her workplace,and watched 3 others viciously beaten to death one by one in front of her,yet acc and the government continues to make her life and the others affected a misery

[PrincessBandit]

I agree and accept the comments that many many people suffer tragedy - though no direct action of their own - in their lives, and a good percentage of these continue to suffer and struggle for a variety of reasons.

However where there is public support of any kind (not just financial) it should be celebrated and no one wishing to mount some sort of assistance effort should be discouraged.

I thought those on the ride showed a great example of motorcyclists who throw in their support for a good cause, and hopefully there can be more positive coverage of the riding populace in other ways too.