Mid-Missouri motorcycle club promotes recovery through charity event
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A chili cook-off and motorcycle show in Columbia brought people together for a good cause Saturday, but for members of the New Breed Motorcycle Club, the event was about more than raising money. It was an opportunity to show people struggling with addiction that a different way of life is possible.
The club hosted the event at the American Legion, featuring a chili cook-off, a motorcycle show, a motorcycle raffle, and on-site tattoos by Angles Ink. Proceeds were going to the Welcome Home Veterans Project in Columbia, a nonprofit that helps homeless and at-risk veterans find housing and other support. In 2025, the organization served 546 veterans and family members through its programs.
By 2 p.m., roughly 100 people had attended, and organizers hoped to raise more than $1,000, according to Buck, president of New Breed’s Moberly chapter.
“This is an event we're trying to grow over a period of the next few years. We added a couple of things this year, add a few things next year,” Buck said.
Buck, who asked to be identified only by his first name, said Saturday’s gathering marked the 13th year the club has held a charity event of this kind. But the club’s commitment to giving back is connected to a broader mission: showing people that life without drugs or alcohol can still be fulfilling.
“New Breed was founded in 1996 out of Jeff City, Missouri, as an organization of people who just love riding bikes and the brotherhood but wanted to be able to trust the people beside you,” said Dean “Slinky,” president of the club’s Fulton chapter. “We're a clean and sober club. No drugs or alcohol, unless prescribed by a doctor; then you got to let your brothers know. So off of that in ‘96 we have grown in various areas to get what we have today.”
The club began when three men in Mid-Missouri wanted to create a motorcycle organization for riders committed to sobriety. After learning that an existing clean and sober club in the Kansas City area was not looking to establish a Jefferson City chapter, they decided to start their own.
The founders chose the name New Breed to reflect the kind of riders they wanted to be. The organization gradually grew, earning permission to display its colors on T-shirts in 1998 and on motorcycle vests in 2000 before receiving its motorcycle club designation in 2004.
Nearly three decades later, members say the club offers more than a shared interest in motorcycles. It provides a sense of brotherhood and an example of how people can build a social life while staying sober.
“We're all about the brotherhood and supporting the life change. You can let people know you can still have fun, clean and sober, and just show people there is a better way of life and you can have fun while you do it,” said Josh Jenkins, treasurer of the Moberly chapter.
Jenkins celebrated five years of sobriety on Sept. 22. His motorcycle features a custom wrap bearing the words “Live free, die sober,” a message that reflects both his personal journey and the example New Breed hopes to set for people struggling with addiction.
“We have a common problem with a common solution. Recovery is possible. Anybody can do it,” Jenkins said.
New Breed's message comes as substance use disorders continue to affect people across Missouri. A 2025 report from the Missouri Department of Mental Health estimated that about 1 million Missouri adults, 20.5% of the state’s adult population, experienced a substance use disorder in the past year.
The Department of Mental Health estimated that 11.6% of adults had an alcohol use disorder and 12.2% had a drug use disorder, with some people experiencing both. Among Missouri adolescents, an estimated 8.2% experienced a substance use disorder during the same period. The report also estimated that 1.9% of Missouri adults and 1.1% of adolescents had an opioid use disorder.
For New Breed members, those numbers represent a problem they hope to help address by leading through example rather than simply telling others how to live.
“We’re mostly attraction over promotion. So, lead by example, and people see what we have. If they want what we have, they come talk to us,” Slinky said.
The club does not expect its approach to be the answer for everyone. Instead, members encourage people struggling with addiction to seek support and find a path to recovery that works for them.
“There is a better way. If somebody's watching this and they're in the throes of addiction and they don't know how to get out, there is a better way. It may not be us, but there is resources out there. Find them,” Slinky said.
Slinky added the club also holds a moment of silence for people who are still struggling with addiction, recognizing that recovery is not a reality for everyone yet.
For New Breed, the message extends beyond motorcycles or a single afternoon of fundraising: People struggling with addiction are not alone.
