![ronelle funk helm insurance agent](https://www.thurstontalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Funk-Ronelle-848x1024-2.jpg)
Submitted by Barb Lally for Ronelle Funk Insurance
![Bill and Ronelle, seen here at the Olympia Toy Run, will join the Allstate Insurance nationwide “Ride for Awareness” campaign for motorcycle safety.](https://www.thurstontalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bill-and-Ronelle-on-Toy-Run-2-179x300.jpg)
Members of the Funk family, who own several Allstate Insurance offices locally, will meet* Nate Hudson on Thursday, July 23, 2015 to accompany him on the last leg of his motorcycle ride to Olympia, part of the Allstate Insurance nationwide “Ride for Awareness” campaign for motorcycle safety.
Thursday’s ride that begins at 10 am* at an exit on I-5 will end at the north steps of the Washington State Capitol building for an 11:00 am news conference. There, Hudson and the Funk family will be joined by Pat Kohler, director of the Washington State Department of Licensing and other key members of the department’s staff.
The Allstate Ride for Awareness kicked off on May 12, 2015, in conjunction with Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and will conclude at the end of August when Hudson will have covered more than 17,000 miles with stops in all 50 states. Hudson is making the trek with a custom 2015 Indian Roadmaster. Washington is the 36th state he will visit.
On behalf of Allstate, Hudson has personally delivered a proposal to each state capital requesting that the state include a question on the importance of safely sharing the road with motorcycle riders on its driver’s license test. Since Washington state already has those questions on its test, in lieu of delivering a proposal, Allstate will use the occasion to acknowledge Washington for the ways the state is educating its drivers.
Funk family members accompanying Hudson on the ride in to Olympia are Ronelle Funk, owner of two Allstate offices, one in Yelm and one in Lacey. Her father, Bill Funk, who retired from the insurance industry after 26 years, will also ride with the group. Bill’s son, Vince Funk, who with his wife owns and manages Allstate insurance offices in Lacey and in Aberdeen, will also take part in the ride.
“Our family has been insuring friends and family in our communities for more than 26 years and motorcycle safety is important to us personally,” says Ronelle Funk, president of Ronelle Funk Insurance. “Three motorcyclists are killed in multi-vehicle crashes at intersections each day and these specific crashes are among the most preventable. We have been motorcycle enthusiasts for many years and we wholeheartedly support this amazing Allstate effort.”
*Note: At 10 am, the Funk family will meet up with Hudson at the Scatter Creek (Northbound) rest area so that the group can travel north on I-5 for the 11 am press conference on the north steps of the Washington State Capitol building.