A bike ride fundraiser and a name change are on the horizon for Child Protect, Clanton’s children’s advocacy center.

Child Protect is partnering with Modern Woodmen of America to hold its first open bike ride, Butterfly Bridge Run, on Saturday, April 21.

Local motorcycle riders are invited to participate in the ride, which will begin at 9 a.m. at Chilton Medical Center in Clanton and end at Richard Wood Swedish Memorial Park in Thorsby.

“We plan to make it a yearly event,” Jana Zuelzke of Child Protect said. “I’m not going to give up after one year. April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Having events like these will help bring awareness that child abuse does occur right here in our community.”

No entry fee is required to ride, but participants are asked to donate whatever they can to Child Protect for child abuse victims.

Modern Woodmen will match proceeds from the event up to $2,500.

All riders will receive a discount ticket to the museum at Barber Motorsports Park.

In addition, Zuelzke said everyone is invited to come to the park after the ride from 2-4 p.m. for food, a car and bike show, door prizes, a 50/50 drawing and activities for children.

“That’s the time we want anybody in the community to come out,” Zuelzke said. “We want a lot of kids to come out and be involved with the cause as well.”

Lori Patterson will lead a Food, Fitness and Fun program for kids. All who participate will receive a jump rope from Modern Woodmen.

Pre-registering for the ride by April 13 is recommended. Event T-shirts will be on sale for $10. The rain date for the event is April 28.

Zuelzke said the name “Butterfly Bridge Run” originated from the new name chosen for Child Protect’s Chilton County satellite office, Butterfly Bridge, which will no longer be under the same umbrella as Child Protect in Montgomery starting Oct. 1.

“We will be doing exactly the same thing, but we will be our own entity,” Zuelzke said. “My director in Montgomery has been very supportive of this. It’s all about being accessible to the kids in this county that need the services.”

Child Protect is also selling raffle tickets for a wooden playhouse donated by G.C. Bolton of PawPaw and Nannys in Clanton, a local distributor of Graceland Portable Buildings.

Tickets are $1 for one, $6 for five and $15 for twenty and will be sold at local car shows every second Saturday, April through August.

The playhouse will be displayed at each show, and Child Protect representatives will be available to sell tickets and provide information about the center’s services, as well as conduct brief tours of the facility in downtown Clanton.

For more information, visit www.childprotect.org, call (205) 755-4205 or email jzuelzke@childprotect.org.