Bikers, Babes and Bingo, a fundraising event organized by Dykes on Bikes (DOB) Winnipeg, CA, will be revving up at Club 200 on Nov. 11 from 4 to 9 p.m.
The DOB Winnipeg chapter is the first Canadian chapter of the widespread non-profit women’s motorcycle contingent, which originated in San Francisco, Calif.
Much like its San Francisco parent, Winnipeg’s DOB is committed to supporting the endeavours of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, as well as women’s communities, from travelling to small town Pride events in Manitoba to providing extra safety support, motorcycle riding and fundraising for community organizations.
Since its official formation in 2019, DOB has always hosted a fall fundraiser, with the previous two years being Bikers, Babes & Bingo, its themed event.
The event tickets for Nov. 11 are priced at $25 with a meal and drag queen bingo. Attendees can pay $10 for a ticket to just the event, without food.
There will be a 50/50 raffle and silent auction occurring the entire evening, a scheduled meal and drag bingo hosted by local drag performer Anita Stallion alongside some special guests. Proceeds will go to Sunshine House, specifically to the Mobile Overdose Prevention Site (MOPS). Jenn Rands, secretary and one of the five founding members of DOB Winnipeg said MOPS is “in dire need of funding in order to continue that really important work.”
“We decided that we were going to do some beneficiary work there,” Rands said.
Sunshine House is a community drop-in and resource centre that focuses on harm reduction. It operates MOPS, which launched in 2022. There, people can access harm reduction supplies like naloxone and use substances in a supervised safe environment. Rands said that Sunshine House is pivotal for the community. She said the work done there isn’t just MOPS, but programming such as Like That, which provides a space for folks exploring gender and sexual identity to come together for skill building or to simply have fun.
Rands said that DOB was able to make a few thousand dollars at the previous event.
“We’d like to try to do the same going forward,” she said.
Tickets for Bikers, Babes & Bingo are available online. Check the Events page at dykesonbikes.ca for more information.
