Ed Reed, fellow Ravens highlight RAACE Foundation's Family Fun Day

The RAACE Foundation, for Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere, held its seventh annual Rally for RAACE motorcycle ride, Ed Reed Flag Football Classic and Family Fun Day Saturday at Cedar Lane Regional Park near Bel Air.

Organizers said the event, held to raise public awareness of and to eliminate child sexual abuse, was well attended, as the weather cooperated with a beautiful warm, breezy and sunny day. They were hoping for as many as 1,000 bikers and several thousand people to participate in the day’s events.

The motorcycle ride started at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa and followed a 56-mile course through Harford County to Cedar Lane Regional Park southeast of Bel Air where the Ed Reed Flag Football Classic and Family Fun Day were held.

Full Access Sports Marketing and The RAACE Foundation presented The Jarvis Appliance Ed Reed Flag Football Classic and Family Fun Day activities beginning at 9 a.m.

In addition to Reed, several other players, including Lardarius Webb, Michael Oher and Vonta Leach, attended.

The huge motorcycle caravan began arriving in late morning for a big celebration among all attending.

The RACCE Foundation is based in Forest Hill and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating the epidemic of child sexual abuse by raising public awareness.

According to the foundation’s mission statement, “The only way to protect children from the horrors of sexual abuse is awareness. Team RAACE provides the opportunities needed to explain the nature of the problem. An open door to communication is the first step. Because your interests and activities have the power to expose the hidden epidemic of child sexual abuse, The RAACE Foundation can educate adults so no child has to suffer the same silent fate.”

“The RAACE Foundation and those who support their goal to Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere know that until every child is safe from abuse our RAACE has no finish line,”  the mission statement concludes.

The RAACE Foundation was created in 2004 by Baltimore businessman Kenneth Smith. In the years prior, Smith began to recognize the need for an organization dedicated to raising public awareness of child sexual abuse after becoming involved with several Baltimore area child abuse charities, according to the organization’s website.


(baltimoresun.com)