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Date: 8/3/2021
CHICOPEE – A group of female bikers known as the 413 Biker Girls are raising funds to create a mural dedicated to fallen Chicopee Police Officer Angela Santiago. The money is being collected through GoFundMe and the mural will honor Santiago while also highlighting women empowerment and motorcycle awareness.
According to one organizer Kay Kahn, the group hopes to raise $14,000 to cover the cost of the mural supplies and artist pay. As of press time, they had raised almost $4,000.
Kahn said that she did not know Santiago personally, but several people in the 413 Biker Girls did.
“We came across her story and we decided that it would be a good idea to do a mural for her,” she said.
Kahn said that the group has a rough sketch of what the mural will look like, with the left side highlighting a “city girl biker,” Santiago in the middle and a “military women biker” on the right. The mural will be painted at Geraldine’s Live Music Bar & Grill in Chicopee. Kahn said that artist Joey Burr will be painting the mural.
According to Kahn, they hope to begin painting the mural as soon as possible. The 413 Biker Girls have been raising funds through bike nights, donut sales and will soon have a car wash at Ramos Detailing and a benefit at Geraldine’s.
Kahn said that BoriSushi has donated generously to the fundraiser along with Throttle Rockers, Ramos Detailing and Geraldine’s.
“We have been having a lot of community support,” she said.
Kahn said this mural is important to her to bring awareness to motorcycles and also honor Santiago in the city of Chicopee.
“We have had a lot of motorcycle accidents. My goal is to make drivers aware as they pass by to look out for us, to look out for motorcycles and anybody on two wheels, three wheels and things like that. It’s also important to me to have that dedication to Angela. She was a new rider and we still don’t know to this day exactly how she ended up getting into the accident, so we would love to give this dedication to her and dedication to the other riders as well that have gotten into an accident,” said Kahn.
Those interested in donating to the GoFundMe are encouraged to visit https://gofund.me/239cafcd. The 413 Biker Girls also post updates and upcoming fundraising events on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1135977446816220/.