FLOWERY BRANCH – Eight guys wearing heavy leather jackets and boots, most of them bearded and adorned with tattoos, walked into the cafeteria at Flowery Branch Elementary School Friday morning. There was a score they wanted to settle and the look on their faces said they meant business.
The Revenant Motorcycle Club, led by Heath Migliore, came looking for Trish Hartman.
What was not mentioned in the first paragraph above is that this band of leather-and-chain-bedecked brothers also had with them a 5-foot wide check - and Santa Claus.
Hartman knew she had nothing to fear, hugging each biker as they crowded around her. Hartman rides motorcycles herself; these guys were her “kind of people.”
When Hartman isn’t on her “ride” she works as the Nutrition Manager at the Radford Road grade school. Every day she oversees food preparation for 557-students and faculty members; every day she sees youngsters who do not have the money to pay for their meal, and her heart goes out to them.
So, as is the practice in Hall County schools, she adds the appropriate meal charge to the student's account, telling the child to enjoy their lunch, knowing that some of those balances will never be paid.
Migliore and his gang took off their leathers in the comfort of the warm cafeteria and were quickly introduced by Hartman to the rest of the lunchroom staff.
“One of the big things we wanted to tackle this year is the unpaid school lunches with these kids,” Migliore said as he stood next to Hartman. “I understand that there is a significant deficit.”
Hartman responded to his comment, “I looked this morning and it’s over $7,000 in this school.”
Migliore said he met Hartman last month. “I came here and met Miss Trish, she explained to me the need, and within just a few days Revenant MC was able to generate enough to at least knock a little dent in that and that’s something we want to commit to over the next year…and we’re going to work on knocking that out.”
Migliore presented Hartman with an oversized check for $2,000.
Hartman explained that she knew of Migliore through his daughter. “He’s a local businessman, he’s right around the corner from us and his daughter went to school here.” Migliore owns Mind’s Eye Tattoo and Salon, less than half-a-mile from the school.
He says he and the club members typically do a couple of charitable events each year. Flowery Branch Elementary was a place he said he loved because of his daughter’s experience at the Hall County primary school. He said other recipients of Revenant's benevolence were a couple of families in the area dealing with childhood leukemia and diabetes.
Migliore said most of the club members had military or law enforcement backgrounds. “The majority of us that are ex-law enforcement were in narcotics together, so we have a different kind of bond, kind of the rough and tough type, I guess.”
“I know we look scary and may not be the image that people think, but the heart of the motorcycle community is just enormous,” Migliore said, “and the most giving and charitable people I know.”
Migliore said a fund-raising event is planned for February as club members will be providing rides for interested parties. Monies generated will be used to continue their outreach into the local community.
Migliore said anyone interested in the club’s February benefit fund-raiser, or in supporting their non-profit charitable ministry, should contact him at (678) 865-7292, or stop by his shop, Mind’s Eye Tattoo at 5458 McEver Road.
“This is just the beginning,” Migliore said, “we’re going to be doing a lot of this for a lot of the local needs.”
Good Tidings is a special AccessWDUN holiday series, highlighting the goodwill of groups and individuals during the Christmas season.
