Million-dollar milestone: Miracle Riders fulfill promise to CSU, announce plans for 2026 ride
The Miracle Riders have hit their $1 million fundraising goal for Columbus State University..
Scott Ressmeyer, co-owner of Country’s Barbecue and founder of the Miracle Ride, made the announcement Tuesday morning in front of CSU’s Frank D. Brown Hall in downtown Columbus.
“To be able to accomplish that in this short of time, you know, it’s a testament to our community,” Ressmeyer told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It’s a testament to these guys. They put their hearts in this and, you know, their soul, and they believe in what we’re riding for.”
This group of motorcycle riders set the goal of raising $1 million for the CSU College of Education & Health Professions in 2021.
“We are so grateful for their support,” said Margie Yates, dean of the CSU College of Education & Health Professions. “In fact, that support has resulted in creating three beautiful state-of-the-art SIM labs, including pediatrics, labor and delivery and our brand-new NICU lab.”
Yates said these labs afford nursing students the opportunity to learn and practice new skills before they work in the real world.
“We are also excited that we are opening these labs to our medical and our emergency personnel in the community so that they can practice life-saving skills in a controlled environment, too,” she said.
New CSU nursing scholarship
Columbus neonatologist Dr. David Levine, an honorary rider for whom the neonatal simulation lab is named, announced during Tuesday’s program that he and his wife are establishing the David and Daunn Miracle Ride Scholarship for CSU nursing students.
“Just as the riders ride to make a difference in one child’s life, we hope that this scholarship can make a difference in a student’s life, who can then go on and make a difference in a child’s life,” Levine said.
Plan for 2026 Miracle Ride
Ressmeyer said he and 21 other riders will participate in this year’s ride. Fourteen are scheduled to leave Columbus on May 1 for a three-week, cross-country trip to deliver postcards with personal greetings from family and friends back home. The remaining riders will make local rides and deliveries. A May 22 celebration and concert on Broadway in downtown Columbus will mark the culmination of this year’s ride.
The 2026 Miracle Ride will have, like the 2025 ride, a Pony Express theme. Ressmeyer said, for him, last year’s ride was the most emotional of all his rides.
“The express ride to me was a ride that probably just touched my heart more than any of the other rides that we’ve ever done for the simple fact is you get to share in somebody’s life in another part of the country,” he said.
The money raised this year will be put in an endowment fund for future upgrades to the simulation labs at CSU, Ressmeyer said.
How the Miracle Ride began
The ride began in 2009, when Ressmeyer rode through the 48 contiguous states to celebrate his 50th birthday, and raise funds for the Children’s Hospital at Midtown Medical Center in Columbus. It’s grown significantly since then.
“We’ve had well over 50 guys that have done this at one point or another,” Ressmeyer said. “I’ve got two new guys that are going to ride this year with me, you know, because they want to experience what we get to experience on the road.”
He said they have raised an estimated $3.2 million through the years.
“They are some of the greatest human beings I’ve ever had the chance to spend time with.” CSU president Stuart Rayfield said during the news conference. “Their hearts are gold, and Columbus State University is so fortunate to have them as our partners.”
“I think of each of these men as little pebbles, and I think of all of our nursing students as little pebbles,” Rayfield said. “And when they go out into the world, the ripples that they make, just like throwing a little pebble into a pond, cannot be underestimated.”
For more information and to follow the riders on their trip, visit rideformiracles.com.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 8:55 AM.
