Support Tour with test drive

Published 6:25 pm Saturday, March 19, 2016

If you’re not going to ride in this year’s Tour de Cure fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, you can at least support it by taking a drive.

Barton Ford on North Main Street will be offering test drives of select models on April 30, the day of the Tour de Cure fundraising bicycle ride.

For each test drive taken that day, Ford Motor Company will donate $20 to the American Diabetes Association, Vice President Bob Barton said.

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This will be Barton Ford’s second year being involved. The company made a sponsorship donation as well.

“We have a history of being involved with the community,” Barton said. “This is a good organization. It’s so well run. We were very impressed with the staff and the folks behind it.”

Barton said he knows someone who serves on the board who asked if he could support the event.

Barton said some of the company’s most popular models, including the Mustang and F-150, will likely be among the vehicles available for test drives to support Tour de Cure.

About 20 test drives were taken during the event last year, Barton said.

“I think with better weather, it will be better,” Barton said. “I think this year’s going to be really great.”

Barton said he visited the Tour de Cure event last year, although he didn’t’ ride.

“It was a little chilly and rainy, but even that there was quite a crowd, and the setup is huge,” he said. “It would have been absolutely perfect except for the weather. We just really appreciate the folks that set aside their time to put things like this on.”

The 2016 Hampton Roads Tour de Cure will take place on April 30 beginning and ending at King’s Fork High School. The route options are 10, 25, 65 or 100 miles.

There is a $30 registration fee and a $200 fundraising minimum. The fundraising goal is $450,000, and so far about $104,800 has been raised.

Visit www.diabetes.org/hamptonroadsvatour for more information about the fundraiser.