Ricky J. Carrasco

August 22 marked the 5th anniversary of the Centauros Motorcycle Club, El Paso Chapter. They celebrated the event with a charity run for cancer patients here in El Paso. More than 350 persons attended the ride that started at Barnett Harley-Davidson and stopped at various other places like Mulligan’s north.  The run had been their first in a few years, but, according to Socorro Chapter Vice President Rogelio Garcia, will continue the club’s charitable work in the area.

The Centauros MC started, as most clubs do, as a group of friends who, ten years ago, decided to ride together on the weekend. Since then, the 7 friends have evolved into a full-blown international organization with more than a hundred members riding their motorcycles in chapters from Chihuahua to El Paso to as far as Alamogordo and Pecos. They are proud to be a family oriented, professional organization. At this run, the members, their wives and children, were all equal participants helping sign up other bikers to participate in the run.

One of Garcia’s first experiences with the club happened two years ago on a charity toy run to Praxedis G. Guerrero, a rural town outside of Juarez.  He remembers he was impressed with the various truckloads of toys the club had managed to acquire to bring to the town’s children. And when he arrived, he could not help but be even more impressed by almost 1000 children who came out to receive toys.  Garcia, himself a mechanical engineer for a local company, then joined the group, comprised of dentists, architects, other professionals and normal working people, who also ride. As he says, he and the group are dedicated to “helping people out.”

Sergio Gonzalez, acting president of the El Paso chapter, says the founding members in Juarez first started their charity work when someone approached one of the members for help with their child who had been diagnosed with leukemia and had nowhere else to turn.  The Centauros proceeded to adopt “Leslie” as their first recipient of their work. When the group grew into El Paso, they decided to maintain the mission of helping cancer patients. The group is registered with the IRS as a non-profit organization and their treasurers are required to report every cent of income and outflow.

Gonzalez says that they hope this transparency, along with their work, will help change the stigma of the “biker” culture from one of the rough outlaw to one of a social group on motorcycles that can be an integral part of the society at large.  In fact, many other MCs in the area are working to shed the negative stigma of the “outlaw biker” that has been perpetuated by TV and movies.  Interestingly enough, he says the negative idea of the biker is less so in Mexico, where motorcycles of all types are more necessary to travel and where motorcycle clubs have already established charitable work.

Manny Rodriguez, Secretary of the El Paso chapter, says they are working hard to bring future charitable events to the area, both in El Paso and in Juarez. “There is much need everywhere and we are trying to help where we can.”

The Centauros will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary in Juarez in September, expecting over 600 persons to attend.