By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

They roared over the roads of the Vineyard on Sunday to benefit the Island’s young and raised a pile of money.

When the Martha’s Vineyard Harley Riders and their 87 bikes completed their two-hour annual Toys for Tots run, club president Mike Dow of Edgartown delivered a check of $17,113 to the Red Stocking Fund.

The Red Stocking Fund is a year-round nonprofit organization that provides clothing and gifts to Island’s needy children mostly during the holidays. Last year, the fund helped 275 children and there is plenty of reason to believe the number will climb, organizers said Sunday.

“The Harley Riders are are our biggest contributor,” said Kerry Alley of the Red Stocking Fund.

He and his colleagues were at the Holy Ghost Society’s Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on Sunday morning wishing the riders a good run. They served donuts and coffee donated by Humphreys. Mr. Alley said the fund has received contributions from the motorcycle club every year and in years past has received as much as $19,000 from the run.

The Harley Riders do four Vineyard runs a year and three of them benefit a number of organizations including Hospice, Mr. Dow said. The group also goes to the mainland to help other motorcycle groups raise money.

“The ride is a statement for us. This is all about riding, our love of riding. All walks of life, all kinds of people join with us,” Mr. Dow said.

The trip involved a simple clockwise route around the Island, from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown along Sengekontacket Pond, from Edgartown to West Tisbury on the road by that name, continuing to downtown Vineyard Haven and back to where they started.

The motorcyclists timed their trip to provide a planned drive-by past the Veterans Day observance at Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs.

The riders came from as far away as Rhode Island and Plymouth.

Richard Rochefort of North Smithfield, R.I., said it was cold when he got up early in the morning to come to the Vineyard from his home. “It was 19 degrees outside,” Mr. Rochefort said.

The Vineyard riders were led Sunday by Santa Claus. He didn’t come from the North Pole, though his whiskers were real.

Mike (Panhead) Fuss of Offshore Cycle rarely dresses in red. Mr. Fuss was accompanied by Mrs. Claus, Nancy, his wife of 22 years. The two sped ahead of the group with warm smiles.

Mr. Fuss was filling in for another Harley Rider Santa, Will Lewis of Edgartown, who had shortened his white beard.

When he wasn’t riding his bike, in front of the Conroy Apothecary, Mr. Claus met with a believer, Christopher Cogliano, a youngster from Belmont. The boy had a lot to report to Santa in confidence while his mother and brother Benjamin stood by.

Among Santa’s many elves were a lot of Ben Davids. Dennis Ben David and his wife Lisa of Oak Bluffs each rode bikes.

“We are a close family,” Mr. Ben David said. His father Donald Ben David is a key fundraiser for the stocking fund and will routinely raise thousands of dollars.

Florence Ben David, wearing a red Santa cap, sold special commemorative ride sweatshirts out of the back of a pickup truck. She said she had done it for years and was assisted this year by her granddaughter Elise Barrett-Dolby, her niece Michelle Gosson, and a dog, Cooper.

Dressed in black leather, Florence Ben David’s brother Donald Ben David and his wife Jodi, sped by.

Joe Wetherbee of Falmouth came to ride with friends and sported an Australian western hat when he wasn’t wearing his helmet. He also wore a well-decorated leather vest. Among the riders, he was the most revered.

“Regardless of what you do for a living and the troubles you have, when you ride a two-wheeler you can leave those troubles behind,” Mr. Wetherbee said.

He has ridden 191,000 miles through 46 of the 50 states on the same 1991 Ultra Classic Harley.

The previous weekend, Mr. Wetherbee hosted the Chris Wetherbee Annual Memorial Toy Run on the mainland which attracted 400 bikes and was named for his late wife. The riders raised $2,400, Mr. Wetherbee said. A storm named Noel kept the event from the previous year’s record of 800 bikes and $7,000 in contributions.

Harley riders like to ride and raise money, Mr. Wetherbee said. He said a lot of the Vineyard riders will go to the mainland to help. He said his appearance on the Vineyard wasn’t just for fun but to reciprocate with support.

Mr. Alley said the Red Stocking Fund already has received fifty requests for help this holiday season.