Ride For Dime President Rob Eichelberger has stepped down following a plethora of accusations thrown against him by what-was-once his best friend. Among those include: stealing from the charity and using that money for drugs, not ever giving most of the money to charity, and rape.
One of his former best friends, Shawn Marchant, reached out to the Dallas Observer and said he had witnessed Eichelberger trading memorabilia donated to the charity in exchange for drugs. Another former Ride For Dime chapter president also told the DFW alternative mag that "apparently the subject here was actually able to quit his job and upgrade a lot of his personal possessions and upgrade his lifestyle."
Eichelberger denied stealing money from the charity, saying that he received a $100,000 inheritance after his father passed away; some of which he used to purchase new cars, motorcycles and a swimming pool, etc.
Marchant, who had been friends with the former Ride For Dime President for 10 years, said a loved one told him about an alleged sexual assault involving Eichelberger and that was when he went to police. However, the Carrollton Police Department in Texas said that the charge was without merit.
He did admit to using Ride For Dime charity donations to reimburse himself for spending his own money to fund other Ride For Dime events across the country, but according to the Dallas Observer, he didn't claim those reimbursements on the charity's tax forms in 2009 or 201o.
He also received help from two Dallas / Fort Worth business owners, Buster O'Keefe, the former owner of The Rail Club, and Kyle Booker, one of the new owners of The Rail Club. The guys claim they loaned Eichelberger $14,000 and $25,000, respectively, and still haven't been paid back.
Eichelberger claimed that he donated $10,000 to Little Kids Rock in 2009, but said he didn't claim the full donation on the charity's tax forms. He also listed the Ride for Dime's secretary on the 2009 and 2010 tax forms as "Philly" Joe Jones, the former Philadelphia Ride for Dime chapter president. Jones told the Dallas Observer that he never gave Eichelberger permission to use his name on the tax forms.
Little Kids Rock said it had a "falling out" with Eichelberger after he never donated any money to the charity for approximately five years. Little Kids Rock is supposed to be one of the biggest Ride For Dime charities, and if memory serves correctly, it was also the first charity that Ride For Dime ever donated to.
Eichelberger did not respond to my Facebook messages when I asked for his side of things.
On a personal note, I have gone to around six Ride For Dime events in Dallas. While my personal encounters with the dude have been limited, I can definitely attest to this dude getting insanely trashed — to the point of even leaving Ride For Dime events early. I also always thought it was peculiar that Elichberger used Ride For Dime to launch his since-failed BBQ business.
One bit of good news, and I may be burying the lede here, is that Rita Haney is now the president of Ride For Dime nationwide. Haney, Dime's former widow / hag, has been a true purveyor of Dime's legacy, and I'm sure she will do fantastic things for the organization.
