Ride for Wyatt on Saturday

The fourth annual Ride For Wyatt snowmobile fundraiser in Mantorville is scheduled for Saturday, February 11 with a 1 p.m. registration and a 2 p.m. starting time.

The riders will pay a registration fee of $25, ride 40 to 60 miles, depending on snow conditions, and then return to Mantorville for a social hour at the Mantorville Saloon with live music, silent auction, a chili feed and, new this year, a full Bloody Mary bar, said organizer Matt McCoy.

McCoy organizes the annual event in honor of his son Wyatt, who took his life at age 18 as a senior at Kasson-Mantorville High School. “Wyatt was always a helper,” Matt McCoy said. “He hated to see people hurting. We thought, what better way to honor his memory and in essence keep him alive, than by continuing his legacy of helping others?”

If you’re not a snowmobiler but want to support the fundraiser, you can contribute directly to the Rochester Area Foundation, noting the Wyatt Coy scholarship as your designated fund.

Last year the event raised $30,000 and, for all three subsequent years, the total raised is right around the $100,000 mark, Matt McCoy said. Money raised goes to support students who are planning to enter the mental health field in any way.

“Mental health remains an underserved crisis in this country,” McCoy said. “This event is designed to assist those who are interested in pursuing a career in mental health. The gap is so wide between need and availability. On top of that, Wyatt always loved helping people and this is one small way that, even in death, he can keep on helping people.”

“In addition to the scholarships, the message we are really trying to send is, it really is OK to not be OK,” McCoy said.

For more information about the snowmobile fundraiser, McCoy said to go online to Eventbrite, Twitter or Facebook and search “Ride For Wyatt.”