Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinAngel Espinoza, 24, left, cheers with fellow Bend Oregon Raider Nation fans after the Raiders scored a touchdown while watching the Monday Night Football game together at Summit Saloon on Monday, Nov 21, 2016.

Oakland Raiders fans have long been known for the menacing black and silver face paint and ghastly garb they wear on game days. They even seem to revel in the darkness that surrounds their self-proclaimed “Black Hole” that is Raider Nation.

In Bend, local Raiders fans faithfully don their favorite players’ jerseys and hoot and holler on game days. But they also volunteer in a homeless shelter. They have adopted a stretch of local highway to patrol for litter. And they have their own float in Bend’s annual Christmas parade.

Raiders fans. Really.

Bend Oregon Raider Nation, or B.O.R.N., is a local booster club for Raiders fans that was established nearly four years ago. It is a family-oriented bunch, and Bend resident and B.O.R.N. founder Aaron Chambers is proud of how engaged the club is in the community.

“You see other booster clubs out there doing really cool stuff,” Chambers says, “and it’s just awesome that we can all come together for a positive thing.”

B.O.R.N. was conceived to create a fun way for local Raiders fans to get together and watch the games on TV, Chambers says, and the result has been more than he could have predicted. The club’s Facebook page boasts nearly 500 members, and, according to Chambers, the group’s year-round involvement in the community makes it a driving force as one of the most respected booster clubs in Raider Nation.

Chambers, 40, is a tech support senior adviser for Ibex outdoor clothing company. He also is a part-time disc jockey, known as Raider Mystic. And, he is part of a Raiders-based rap group. In his travels with the rappers, Chambers says, he has discovered that the B.O.R.N. club is recognized even outside of Oregon.

You can find the fan club on any given game day during football season gathered around big-screen TVs upstairs at The Summit Saloon, a popular sports bar in downtown Bend. Once a month you can find B.O.R.N. members at Bethlehem Inn, serving dinner to residents at the shelter. And the club holds family barbecues in the summer in between planning volunteer work with programs like Ronald McDonald Houses and Central Oregon Veterans Outreach.

The club has also adopted a section of U.S. Highway 20 east of Bend, and it assists the Bend Park & Recreation District with seasonal cleanups of pine needles and leaves at Sawyer Park.

“This isn’t just during football season,” says B.O.R.N. member and longtime Bend resident Jenny Cruickshank. “It’s all year, and it’s really become like a family for us.”

When she is not donning the silver and black, Cruickshank, 46, is an assistant professor of health and human performance at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. B.O.R.N. includes a number of “Bay Area transplants,” Chambers says, but most club members have lived in Bend for decades, himself included.

What started out as a family tradition for Bend native Trisha Frederick has become a way of life, she says, and B.O.R.N. has formed an unexpected bond that has transcended time and distance.

“The team has moved (from Oakland to Los Angeles and back), been hated and its fans resented,” Frederick says, “but it’s the Raider way of family that’s binding. It’s a force of its own.”

The group sells shirts and hats adorned with the club’s name and a version of the Raiders’ iconic logo that was custom designed by Chambers. It also raffles off prizes that include jerseys signed by Raiders players and CDs filled with songs about the team.

On game days at The Summit, the B.O.R.N. crowd erupts in cheers of delight when the Raiders score a touchdown. It moans with an untimely turnover. And it berates the officials when a penalty is called against Oakland. But mostly this season, the cheering has prevailed, as the Raiders are the surprising leaders of the AFC West with an 8-2 record that is among the best in the NFL.

The “Silver and Black” crowd is composed of all age groups and demographics that Cruickshank says have come together as one big family.

“We keep these things very family-friendly, because we have all the kiddos running around,” she explains.

B.O.R.N. gatherings include as many as 90 Raiders rooters on game Sundays, and members drive from across Central Oregon to participate, many toting their younger children with them.

The club also owns two Raiders season tickets at Oakland Coliseum, and members enter raffles for a trip to Oakland for game days; they pay face value for the seats.

Chambers’ rap group, called JDUB, has traveled to various Raiders games to perform for Raider Nation during pregame tailgates and parties. Following its appearance in this year’s Bend Christmas parade on Dec. 3, JDUB will perform at The Astro Lounge in downtown Bend during a Raider Nation party. Former Raiders player Jerry Robinson is expected to join the club for the parade, according to Chambers, and the former All-Pro linebacker will be signing autographs on Dec. 4 at The Summit, when the big-screen TVs will be tuned to the Raiders’ home game against the Buffalo Bills.

On occasion, the booster club will welcome out-of-town Raider fans as honorary guests, like 91-year-old Agnes Roberts. She was in Bend from Los Angeles recently to visit her son, B.O.R.N. member Mike Roberts, and stopped by The Summit on Oct. 30 to cheer on her Raiders as they faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Well, at my age, I’m just happy to be anywhere,” she said, “but this is unlike anything that I’ve ever done.”

Accessorized with a black and silver Raiders scarf, Agnes Roberts was enthralled by the crowd and honored to be included in the festivities. She said while watching the game that she was pleasantly surprised by the group that had assembled.

The club has expanded in numbers quickly in four years. And with more hands on deck, its reach in Bend could spread for the better.

“I look forward to where the club will go,” Frederick says, “and how much our community will benefit from the outreach programs we support.”

No, seriously. Raiders fans.

— Reporter: 541-383-0375, acolosky@bendbulletin.com