Concert for Hope to aid breast cancer survivors

Women motorcycle riders blazed a trail last year by forming Diva Hope Charities to help breast cancer survivors.

Now a huge Concert for Hope is planned for Saturday, May 15, with a goal of raising as much as $20,000 for the cause, Diva Hope Charities co-founder Cheryl M. Snyder said.

Many area bands have agreed to perform at the charity show 6 to 11 p.m. at the Rotary Pavilion at Concourse on S.R. 52, a short distance west of Suncoast Parkway.

"This venue is awesome as it holds around 650 under the covered pavilion and 1,200 on the property," Snyder wrote in an e-mail plea to supporters.

She is asking volunteers to gather for a planning session at 1 p.m. Sunday at Panera Bread at S.R. 54 and Little Road, in the Trinity area.

Find out more on the Diva Bikers Web site or its Facebook page. Or send an e-mail to cheryl@divahopecharities.com.

Performers will include V84, a Van Halen tribute band "straight from the David Lee Roth years ... jumps and all," Snyder said.

Destroyer is billed as the "Ultimate KISS Tribute Band."

"We are also working on a band to open for them: Fleetwood Max, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band," Snyder added.

Radical Randy will serve as master of ceremonies.

Several items will be auctioned off. A 50-50 prize drawing is in the works. "Imagine a 50-50 with that many people," Snyder added.

Festivities would not be complete without a bike show, Snyder continued. Brothers Powder Coating and the Rev. Jim will sponsor the bike show

Food and merchandise vendors will set up at the site. Fire and Iron Club will be helping with all the beer trucks.

The Diva Hope Ride, held last Nov. 15, raised some $2,300, Snyder recalled. So the concert could potentially bring in about 10 times more contributions.

Cancer not only attacks the body, it also attacks a woman's self-image, Snyder had said during Breast Cancer Awareness Month last year.

"I know what it's like," Snyder said about her own bout with cancer for three years in the early 1990s.

An avid motorcyclist, she could get all "blinged out" with accessories during her treatments against the disease and still not feel pretty.

She and partners Heather Martin and Karl Alvarez launched Diva Biker LLC last year, which offers accessories for women bikers.

They then formed the charitable offshoot, Diva Hope Charities, a nonprofit corporation providing cancer screenings for women who have no money or insurance to get the screenings they need.

The Diva Hope founders designed and donated customized bandanas that women can wear during their cancer treatments, Snyder explained. The first batch of bandanas went to the Florida Cancer Institute New Hope, which includes Hudson and New Port Richey offices among its seven area locations.