Robin Williams' Donated Bike Raises $20K for Charity

Still had mud on tires from actor riding it
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 25, 2014 10:16 AM CDT
Robin Williams' Donated Bike Raises $20K for Charity
Army veteran Chad Jukes, right, is joined by Robin Williams, left, along with group of injured veterans during the State Farm "Sea to Shining Sea" ride across the US on May 22, 2010, in San Francisco.   (Tony Avelar/AP Images for State Farm)

Robin Williams loved cycling—he even once gave Conan O'Brien a "ridiculous" bike to cheer him up—and a few weeks before his death, he donated his custom-made Pegoretti bicycle to a charity auction, Page Six reports. At Saturday night's Hotbed Benefit, which raised funds for 10,000 Degrees, a scholarship program for underprivileged college students, the bike sold for $20,000, People reports. That's enough to pay for a year of college for two students.

"I can see him showing off the bicycle he donated to the auction, getting everyone laughing and raising a lot of money for a cause he cared about deeply," says close friend Maxwell Drever, who co-hosted the benefit and whose Drever Family Foundation helps fund the scholarship program. Drever offered a glimpse into Williams' mind of late: "To get Parkinson's, and think that maybe you are losing your voice and that you can't ride a bike..." The bicycle still had mud on the tires from Williams riding it, and a signed Night at the Museum cap was included. (More Robin Williams stories.)

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