CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Friends of Christian, a local non-profit organization, is currently seeking a recipient for proceeds raised at their Fifth Annual Poker Run, Pig Roast and Chinese Auction set for July 23.
(Submitted photo)
The organization raises money each year for a local family with a child with a terminal or chronic illness that needs help bridging the gap between what health insurance pays for and other living expenses.
“We are looking for a family with a child newborn to 18 years old who has a terminal, or chronic illness that is creating medical expenses for the family who are not covered by health insurance,” Michele Wright, President of Friends of Christian, said. “Things like travel expenses, co-pays, food. No family should have to choose between going to the doctor or putting food on the table of paying the mortgage.
“If you are a blue-collar family in an area like this, you don’t have disposable income. We want to help families offset those kinds of costs.”
Wright said the organization is looking for someone who isn’t currently getting help from another source or organization.
“We are looking for a family that has dropped between the cracks,” Wright said. “We are not looking for a family that wants a handout, but a family that needs a hand up, a family that just needs a little bit of help.”
Nominations for a needy family can come from anyone, although Wright asks that if you are nominating a family, please do so with their knowledge.
“We do ask that the family knows they have been nominated so when we contact them, they aren’t blindsided,” Wright said. “If you nominate a family, let them know someone from our organization will be contacting them.”
Nominations should be done through a private message on the Friends of Christian Facebook page.
“We are hoping to have someone chosen by May 1,” Wright said.
POKER RUN, PIG ROAST, CHINESE AUCTION TO BE HELD JULY 23
As for the fundraiser itself, it will be held Sunday, July 23 starting at Vinny’s on Main Street in Clarion with registration at 9 a.m. and will conclude at Wolf’s Den Banquet Center at Exit 53 off I-80 where the pig roast and Chinese auction will take place.
This is the first year the run will be done on a Sunday.
“We are running on a Sunday because so many people work Saturdays and can’t make the ride,” Wright said. “We are hoping that by moving it to Sunday it will generate more rides on the Poke Run.”
According to Wright, the 2017 version of the Poker Run will probably use a northern Clarion County/eastern Forest County route similar to one used in a past year.
“We are probably going to revisit one of our past routes. One that went up to Route 666 outside of Marienville,” Wright said. “We may shorten the run by a little bit because it is on a Sunday.”
Wright said the registration will start at 9 a.m. at Vinny’s in Clarion with the run getting underway around 11 a.m. More details on that can be found in the near future on the organization’s Facebook page.
“Vinny’s has always been such a great supporter of what we do,” Wright said. “We never imagined when we did this the first time we would be doing it every year. We get so excited for it and really enjoy doing it.”
Wright said you don’t necessarily have to have a motorcycle, the usual chosen mode of transportation, for a Poker Run, to be involved.
“Obviously, motorcycles are the focus, but we welcome any street-legal vehicle,” Wright said. “If someone doesn’t have a motorcycle, any vehicle that is street legal is fine. Two years ago, we had a Polaris Slingshot, it sort of looks like the Batmobile, take part.”
There will be both pre-registration and same-day registration for the event.
Advanced registration will include a package that will include the price of the ride and the pre-ordered, custom t-shirts. There will be three pre-registration prices including $20 with no shirt, $30 with one shirt and $40 with two shirts.
Pre-registration can be done through the group’s Facebook page. Registration on the day of the event at Vinny’s will be $25 with no shirt – Friends of Christian is hoping to possibly have some t-shirts to sell on the day of the event.
“Registration fee is per bike and includes the price of the ride, the pig roast and the Chinese auction,” Wright said. “It also includes one hand of poker. If you have a passenger, and they would like to play a hand of poker as well, it would be $5 extra.”
The pig roast and Chinese auction, which had over 100 items last year, will also be open to the public and will include music and games.
“Last year, we charged $10 for the pig roast,” Wright said. “We are planning on the same price this year as long as our costs don’t go up. It’s open to anyone who doesn’t want to go on the poker run, and it’s a full meal. You get the pig roast plus two sides, a roll and all your drinks. It’s all-you-can-eat until we run out of food.”
Last year, Friends of Christian raised between $5,000 and $6,000 before expenses up from around $3,000 in 2014.
“We are looking to go bigger and better every year,” Wright said. “We want to add more bikes and raise more money. My dream is for this organization to be able to help more than one family a year and to have a couple of different functions with the poker run being the big event.”
Anyone who would like to volunteer on the day of the event or in any capacity with Friends of Christian should contact the group through its Facebook page.
“We meet year round,” Wright said. “We know a lot of high school students needs community service hours and have Senior Projects. If you know of anyone who needs community service hours for high school, have them contact us. We have forms they can fill out when they come and volunteer.”
According to Wright, the organization will hold a meeting sometime in April that will be open to the public for anyone who would like more information about the group or anyone who would like to sign up to volunteer during the Poke Run. The time, location and date of that meeting is to be determined and will be available on the organization’s Facebook page.
“We are excited to be doing this again this year and hope to see new faces,” Wright said. “We want to see 100-plus bikes on this year’s ride. We want to see the biking community in Clarion make that happen for us.”
