SAUGUS — The sixth annual Greg King Ride for Harm Reduction is coming up on Aug. 10 at the Saugus-Everett Elks Lodge as a way to remember King and support the Healthy Streets Outreach Program.
Greg King’s father, Henry King, better known in the Saugus area as Joe King, spoke to the Item about the event and about his son, who died in 2016. King is the president of the Gregory King Memorial Fund, which was started in his son’s memory.
“The organization itself started when Greg passed, and I had an incredible outpouring of support both from his friends and family of Saugus as well as the recovery community. The opioid recovery community was overwhelming with their support and what they did for us, particularly Matt Ganem of Aftermath, as well as some other organizations,” King said.
King said that 2,000 people showed up to his son’s wake, and it was there that King saw how much his son had done for the community.
“I’m an engineer and I can’t help but keep track of things. It’s just something ingrained in me, and at no point during that four-hour procession did less than one out of four people stop to note that Greg’s intervention into their lives saved them and caused them to turn to a sober life,” he said.
King saw the power of the recovery community, and as a motorcycle enthusiast, he looked into doing a ride for his son, knowing he could get support out of it.
One story King told about his son was how he would always “scam” people out of giving him their coats, for a good cause, of course.
“If you knew Greg and he came over to your house for dinner, he would’ve left with all of your coats. He kept them all in the back of his car, so when he was dealing with the homeless drug addicts, it was like Narcan, needle exchange, can I give you a ride to rehab in the van. If they said no, he’d say, ‘Look in the back of my car, there are some coats…go pick one out and you’ll have a better day,'” King said.
He continued that this would create a form of trust between the two, and they might feel more comfortable in reaching out. “When the time came they would contact him and Greg would either through AHOPE in Boston or Health Streets in Lynn he’d pick people up and he’d take them to McDonald’s or get you a pack of cigarettes and he’d sit with you through the whole intake and then he would come back and check up on you,” he said.
Today, King and others have followed in Greg’s footsteps, keeping his memory alive with outreach, fundraising, and uplifting the recovery community. The upcoming event has become popular as the charity motorcycle ride is followed by a pig roast, raffles, and entertainment while bringing awareness to harm reduction.
The 501(c)(3) has aligned with Massachusetts’ State Without StigMA with the hope to stop the stigma around addiction.
Riders of the event pay $20 and passengers pay $15. Registry and staging will be between 9 – 10:30 a.m. The ride will begin at 11 a.m. and arrive back at the Saugus-Everett Elks by 12:30 p.m. Anyone without a motorcycle is welcome to join after the ride at 12:30 p.m. It’s $15 for anyone 15 and older. Kids aged 6 to 14 pay their age, and kids under 5 are free.
