RAGBRAI gives charitable checks two months late

Several overnight RAGBRAI towns from 2022 said they received their charitable check contributions from the organization two months late.

Driving the news: A technical error led to a delay in the checks being sent out, said Anne Lawrie, cycling director of Ventures Endurance, a subsidiary of Gannett which oversees the event.

• Speculation on a Save RAGBRAI Facebook group, which was created by the ride's former director, questioned if the late checks were due to a lack of funds.
• But Lawrie told Axios the delay was a clerical error and the checks were all mailed out to the overnight towns last week.

Flashback: In 2020, RAGBRAI officials announced they were committing more money to towns along the route, as well as local charitable causes following calls for more transparency surrounding donations by community leaders around the state.

State of play: 30 days after RAGBRAI, the eight overnight towns were supposed to receive $15,000 to use towards a charity of their choice.

• However,only West Union received the check. The others were canceled because they were erroneously deemed duplicates, Lawrie said.
• As of Nov. 1, the majority of the towns received their checks. Sergeant Bluff, Mason City and Ida Grove officials confirmed their receipts with Axios.

What's next: Lawrie said there will be a new plan in place for 2023 to ensure the delay doesn't happen again.