Welcome Home. Here, Us, Now.
A space for all of us seeking what's real and sacred in a world that rushes past the soul.
Welcome Home. Here, Us, Now.
Service Is The Price Of Admission For O6 Riders
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Motorcycle clubs often get judged before they ever get understood. We sit down with brothers from O6 Riders Motorcycle Club and One Unit Motorcycle Club as they pull into Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County in Fort Worth to do what doesn’t make headlines: serve food, bring donations, and treat our neighbors with dignity.
Welcome Home And Meet The Riders
SPEAKER_01Welcome home. Hear us now, a podcast of the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County, a space for all of us seeking what's real and sacred in a world that rushes past the soul. I'm Eric Englman, a volunteer at UGMTC, and your co-host, President and CEO of UGMTC, Charles Wolford. Hi, I'm Eric Engelman, and Charles Wolford is with me. And also I count about five other young men, members of a fraternity that we're going to hear about. They rolled into our parking lot this Saturday morning, and they are community serving. That's who they are. So with me are Maximus, Rocket, Peebles, and several others.
SPEAKER_02Charles, how are you doing? Very good to see you, my friend, and my brother. God bless you. Thank you so much for always joining us on this podcast. Man, I got some of my brothers from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. We're so grateful these brothers are here. They rolled into Fort Worth and today are a part of an amazing experience, this community service project. My brother Peoples is going to lay it out and share what this project is really about. But again, so grateful for these brothers to be able to come in and share with us. Brother Peoples, man, it has been a blessing to get to know you. God has an amazing way of connecting us one with another. And so he's already one brother through fraternity of a brother in Christ. Brother Peoples, tell us a little bit about what's going on today and what God is doing as well.
From Prospecting To Service Project
SPEAKER_06Well, first of all, brothers, good morning. It was an honor and a pleasure for being here today. After being curious about this O6 Riders Motorcycle Club and passing and getting through certain criteria to get to this point, which is the community service project, which I alone have to put together and present to my president, which is Mr. Maximus over here, and Brother Maxim over here, and then they have to take it forward to the actual brothers that started the O6 Riders and approve it. Once I got approved to do the community service, it was on me at that point. I started putting the PowerPoint together. They saw it, they approved it, it was done. The minute we came in here, me and myself and uh my brother Commando and we saw you, we walked in and brought him about five, we brought him about five completely big, gigantic bags of of uh of donated clothes, and you looked at me amazing when you should when I told you that. That didn't just come from my house, that came from actually my street. When I told my neighbors that I'm going down to the mission down in in Lancaster and Fort Worth, and I'm going down there to do community service. Do you have any clothing that you just want to, any items you want to donate? That was five bags. And that came in on motorcycles.
SPEAKER_01That's bringing a truck, they brought in a lot of other wheels.
SPEAKER_06So right now I have uh this is the national president of uh of uh one unit, my brother uh Dante uh Dante, my guy, I love him to death. Uh they call a rocket. You know, and uh and Maximus is my president of O Six Riders, Kansas City. And as you know, I'm Bryce Rick's peoples, and I'm just making my way through it, and we are here, and it's an honor to praise you to be here to serve these people. And that's what we're
What O6 Riders Stands For
SPEAKER_06here to do.
SPEAKER_02Maximus, tell us about O Six Riders.
SPEAKER_04Man, um, so O Six Riders Motorcycle Club is a motorcycle club that is comprised uh entirely of members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Um it started back in 2013 out in Herndon, Virginia. Uh, and then in 2020 we were able to expand to Baltimore, Maryland, and then in 2024, we were able to expand into Kansas City, Missouri. Uh so we're we're just a growing club. We're moving around. Uh we are the first and only uh D9 fraternity uh to have their own chartered MC. All right. Uh there's other clubs in the D9 that have riding clubs, but none of them are actual MCs. We are the first and the only. And uh just like in Alpha Fashion, man, you know, people are gonna follow up. Yeah, we lead the way. Alphas lead the way. What is an MC? An MC is a motorcycle club. Oh, yeah. Yeah, all right. Yeah, yeah, in short, it is a motorcycle club.
SPEAKER_02So what a blessing. So um today is about prospecting peoples coming into the um 06 motorcycle club, is that correct? Correct. It's about leveling up, yes. All right, wonderful, wonderful.
SPEAKER_05So tell us, Rocket, a little bit about uh what you're doing with one unit.
One Unit And The Chain Network
SPEAKER_05First and foremost, uh guys, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to do all the gathering unity. Uh my name is OneUnit Rocket. I am the national president and founder of uh One Unit Motorcycle Club, founded right here in Fort Worth, Texas. Um we are now a national club. We have 13 chapters um all throughout the United States, so we got our national status whenever we, you know, touch five different states. Uh One Unit was a club that was started right here in 2004 by myself and four of the individuals. Um, mainly um five guys, we all had uh a passion for riding, uh, giving back to the community. Uh so hence the motorcycle club was born. Um so we have Fort Worth, Dallas, Nacados, Longview, uh Houston, uh Lamarck, just to just to name the Texas chapters. And we got uh chapter in Cali, uh chapter in Alabama, uh chapter in uh uh it's 13 of us, so you know it's it it's a lot of us, man, and it's all about the giving back. So in uh past Master Peoples, as I call him, my fraternity brother, whenever he uh invited me out to come here, I couldn't be nowhere else. He told me 8 o'clock in the morning, I'm really not a morning person, but for him, I'm gonna get it done.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You know, one of the things that we know oftentimes motorcycle clubs get a bad rap. My uncle was one of the founders of the Hornets Motorcycle Club. They did a story on him in National Geographic, but what I've known about motorcycle clubs is that they're very much community focused, being able to help uplift individuals. And so we're grateful that you all have come to Fort Worth, but more so that you've come to Union Gospel Mission of Tarran County to be able
Serving At UGMTC Today
SPEAKER_02to serve. So let's just uh kind of talk a little bit about the service project today, peoples. What will you all be doing and what does this mean uh to you and to the community that you're serving?
SPEAKER_06So, what we'll be doing today is first we're donating some more clothing, some more stuff and socks and socks and hats and gloves and socks and scarves, whatever. And now we we got people over to the cafeteria and they actually over there serving the people that's sitting in the cafeteria. They actually grabbing the plates and going in and putting it in front of those people and um and not looking at them no other way, but we are here to serve you as as everybody as God has served us. And we but we just want to let people know that we ain't just a motorcycle club running around here wrapping our inches. We're here giving back. We want you to know that we're here with you. So that's what 06 Riders stands for. That's what that MC that we're putting on our back stands for, and that's exactly what we're gonna do. And then after those guys finishing that uh that cafeteria, we're gonna switch the brothers over to the pantry, like you would like you showed us before when we first came, and they're gonna work inside there. And once we're done, we're gonna take a good fellowship picture, and then we're gonna get on our bikes, and we're gonna head down and and and fellowship together, and we're gonna sit back and do and do a reflection. I call it reflection. Some people call it an AAR, after action review, you know. But I call a reflection of what we came here to do. Did we serve our purpose? Did we come here and actually show them people that we care from our heart? This is what we're here for, brother. And we won't let you know this ain't gonna be the last time. I could break it down.
SPEAKER_02Well, you all are very much welcome anytime. One of the biblical principles that we live by is love thy neighbor as thyself. And part of what we do here uh is we have about five hundred and sixteen people that live on campus with us that have been unhoused. Uh, and you met some of them already in the cafeteria. Uh, many of them have coming through cycles of addiction. Uh you would see many of our neighbors that come through some mental health um and are in the middle of the mental health crisis even as we're serving them today. And so you all don't know what it means for them to see us. And let me emphasize one of the greatest gifts is actually having African American brothers to be able to come, to be able to share in this context, because it makes a difference for our neighbors to see individuals who look like them who are serving and giving back. So, thank you all for committing your time to be able to do that. But let's talk about loving thy neighbor, and I'm gonna go to you, Maximus, about the God's principles about loving thy neighbor as thyself. Tell us a little bit about O6 Riders and how that principle actually displays itself across the country and what you all are doing in that context.
SPEAKER_04So, um, what we do, we're we're huge on community service. That is the the number one goal of our club, actually, is to make sure that we are making an impact in our community and and helping our neighbors, loving our neighbors. Uh we have several members, um, and every person, if you're trying to become a member, it is you cannot become a member without hosting your own community service project. Uh so there is no way, there's no entry into our club without service. Everybody has to serve. If you cannot humble yourself to serve others, then we don't want you. And and and that's it's a part of our fraternity, but it's also a part of our club, and it's who we are as people. We want to make sure we give back. In Kansas City, we hosted a uh a community service event called O6 Cares slash Meals on Two Wheels, where we get all the bikers together and we fill our saddlebags with food, water, toiletry, soap, and uh anything that people will need, and we go down into the the slums of Kansas City and we hand this out. And last year we fed over a hundred people. Wow. You know, with just the stuff we can stuff in our bags. Like this is what we do.
SPEAKER_02Do you have a date for that for the Kansas City one?
SPEAKER_04Uh it'll probably be around May time. We like to do it when it's hot. Okay. But uh yeah, we want to do it when it's hot.
SPEAKER_02Uh in that context, we have a mission in Kansas City that we could potentially connect you to to be able to serve as well. And certainly in particular as it relates to one unit. Uh tell us a little bit, Rocket, about y'all's community service and how you fulfill that biblical principle of love thy neighbor as thyself.
SPEAKER_05So definitely, definitely one unit is is definitely an organization that's that's driven um solely behind the community service piece of it. Um we actually do um some things on your campus, actually. Um I didn't know about this facilities and the magnitude of it. So we normally just come down and set up on a random parking lot, you know, make sure that we have our our gloves and our hair nets and you know feed feed the campus. So we've done that. Now that you know, now that I've connected, yeah, so now that we don't have to have to renegade the building anymore. So no, sir.
SPEAKER_02You can be you can be legit now. For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_05So um, so um uh I also um also the founder of an organization here called the chain. The chain is an organization that unites all of the 99% bike clubs, and when I say 99%, there's a difference between outlaw motorcycle clubs, which are one percenters, and then there's 99% motorcycle clubs. The chain is an organization that unites all of the 99% motorcycle clubs, and one of the key focuses there is definitely giving back as well. So we have an annual uh Thanksgiving drive where all of the motorcycle clubs throughout the Dallas Fort Worth area get together and we create Thanksgiving baskets and we pick random community centers to just give out uh Thanksgiving baskets from Turkey, the whole dinner. And so we we know like this last last past Thanksgiving, I think we fed about 300 families in Dallas, and then we fed like another 250 in Fort Worth. And then we backdoor not even 30 days later and do an annual bike drive to where we get 10 speed from bikes with training wheels all the way up to mountain bikes. And we do the same thing. We go to a community center in Dallas, and then we come back and back door and come back to another community center in Fort Worth and do the same thing. So we normally give out about a thousand bikes a year. And so my motorcycle club, um, my mission statement of a motorcycle club, if you look at the back of my patch, it says keeping God first. But if you break that down, it stands for knowingly educating every person, investing in God, guiding our direction, formulating individual relationships, structure, and teaching. So that's what it's about. Love it, love it, love it.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead, jump in, bro. So we we got leather jackets in here now. Where where are all you from? What there are five of us. Five of us that have leather jackets. I don't have a leather jacket. No, just we may have to give you one before you leave. Right, right. We gotta give you a leather jacket. So go ahead and go over a good question. So I've heard Kansas City, um, and I've heard uh Dallas and Fort Worth, and I think I heard Toledo earlier today.
SPEAKER_04We have Toledo, Ohio here as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, one of the brothers is from Toledo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we come from around the country.
SPEAKER_01And and you do that because uh the love of Jesus, the love of your organization. Wow. Yeah, yeah. That's well, I made the trip to Fort Worth from Irving. Well, we appreciate that. It would have been successful had you had a leather jacket.
SPEAKER_02Uh but let's do this. Uh, Brother Peoples, we want you to give one last word, particularly as it relates to this project, but then I'm going to have uh us to close out with a word of prayer, uh, praying for bikers and riders all across the country, because we know that we want God to build a hedge of protection around each and every one of them. But specifically, we want to make sure that we're praying for O6 riders, uh, and also we want to make sure we pray for one unit as well. So, Brother Peoples, give us a last word as it relates to this project and what God is doing uh with us, and then um we will ask uh for a closing prayer as well.
Leadership With Heart Not A Ticket
SPEAKER_06Uh one last word I would like to say is is a word that I use when I teach my students, and I'm a high school teacher, JRTC, head instructor in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Collaborative communication. Use those skills to be able to modify teams and take a different dynamic of people that you never really knew before. Be able to take that team dynamic, put it together, make sure everybody understands with clarity and precision that what the mission that we got before us at hand, and they're ready to make that mission happen. Always remember that. Be able to lead and have the ability to influence others to accomplish a mission by using purpose, direction, and motivation. And at the same time, pouring your heart out to people, not just walking in here giving back and punching a ticket. Make sure you feel that. I felt that the first time I came here. Me and you had a we had a moment. Yeah, we did. You know what I'm talking about. And that's what I'm telling you, and that's why we're here. So we're glad you're here. Thank you, brother.
SPEAKER_02We got a couple other brothers that are in the house. Our studio is a little bit of an intimate space here for those of you who can't see us, but you can hear us. But we have a small studio here, Union Gospel Mission, but I'm gonna introduce uh allow two other brothers to introduce themselves, and I'm gonna ask one of you to close us out with word for introduce yourself, brother, and what chapter you're part of as well.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm I'm a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, so we're all brothers here. I'm a prospective here, so I'm uh just watching to see what's going on, get so that I can become an uh active member and assist you also uh from an Alpha Phi Alpha Perspective and Brotherhood and a brother in Christ there. So again, Alan Davis, and I'm local Fort Worth, Texas here.
SPEAKER_03Well, my government name is Dennis Holmes, but the club knew me as commando. And there's a long story behind that as well, man. But uh, like I say, the day was uh we planned this to happen last weekend, didn't happen. It's been in the planning for a long time, but we finally got it done. But um the day is about brother Peoples. He put the work in, he did what he's supposed to do. Um, this brother comes from the world of motorcycles, so we ain't nothing we really can show him that he already know. But he humbled himself to come ride with us and roll with us because he wanted to be able to loved Alpha. And once he got on that transition of it, everything motorcycle part was just a natural thing. So we're excited to be here with him. His boy Rocket over there and prayers, Max said, Man, we we've been talking about this for months, trying to get this done. And uh today is the day, so we're gonna make his peeps today today and uh pull this thing off. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Come man, and you might close us out
Prayer Reflection And Final Blessing
SPEAKER_02a word of prayer.
SPEAKER_03Yes, sir. Heavenly Father, right now, I want to say thank you and thank you for this time we have together as brothers, a time to fellowship and do the things that we do to serve you. We ask that you continue to bless us and keep us in your will until a day come. Amen.
SPEAKER_01Praise the Lord. Wow. Uh didn't I I don't normally record on Saturday mornings, but I I might change that. Hey, I I'm uh blessed. There's a lot of scripture, there's uh God has just been nudging me to maybe do a little flavor of community service, and what has occurred to me is that there's a prayer that Jesus made that he made contagious, and that prayer is give me this water. And the woman at the well, Samaritan woman, he got her to pray that, knowing what she was asking for and who it was that was giving it to her, and started to change her village. And she went to the man. She went to the man and said, Hey, this guy, this guy understands me. Who is this? Is this the Christ? And and created an interest. And I I just taste a lot of different flavors of organization, of love, of I'm not sure what to call chain, but I like it. Uh lots to learn from uh from each other. But God bless you guys. Does anybody want to say anything? You know, always got something to say. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But clearly, uh one of the things that we um enjoy about being able to have guests who come to Union Gospel Mission uh and who get a chance to connect is we find that there's a level of connectivity that happens beyond what we thought would happen. So uh when we see each other today, when you see the women and the men that you will come into contact with, rest assured there will be a connection with somebody. Someone's gonna connect with you in a way, and you will connect with them. That's the way the spirit moves. I call those the divine interventions where God providentially connects us with somebody, and the touch and the connection uh will forever help change somebody simply due to the fact of our presence. When we show up, God then shows up with us. The word of God says, where there are two or three gathered in my name, he says, There I am, will be in the midst of them. And so today is about presence and about connectivity. So um you all you all have no idea of the presence that you all are making in the lives of the men and women that you're going to be able to connect with. Uh, some of them, it will register you of what they used to be. Uh, one of the young ladies, when we were in there just feeding, she says, Um, Charles, I knew why I like you. I used to ride motorcycles uh when I was younger. Um, and that's a connection uh because they see me as president and CEO. Most of them don't know how to get on a bike, ride a Harley. Most of them don't have they'll have no idea. So there's a connection there that she begins to resonate with. Um and so in that context, um, I'm just going to be praying that there will be continued connections. There's gonna be a little boy that you may see, and something he will see in the man in you. And he was like, What is that like? This brother serving today, and so it will resonate with him. And so, God bless you, brothers. Thank you all so much for being with us. Um in the name of Jesus Christ, we're asking for protection for this day. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_01Check that out. That is UGM's podcast. UGMTC.org is where you can get a lot of other good information. And thanks for your work, man.
