Bikers’ event raises money for veterans
Posted on Monday, June 16, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — Local biker fanatics revved up their engines Saturday to raise money for the Fayetteville Veterans Home.
Sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans’ Motorcycle Club and the Loners’ Motorcycle Club, this year’s Veterans Poker Run marked the group’s fifth annual fundraiser.
“ We do it on Flag Day every year to help raise money for anything they might need at the Veterans Home, ” said Event Coordinator Jim Hegna, aka Tiny. “ We stop five times along the way and each person gets a play-ing card. At the end of the run, whoever has the best hand wins. ”
Hegna said 100 percent of the proceeds from the poker run go toward the Fayetteville Veterans home, located in the former Washington Regional Medical Center on North College Avenue.
Bikers met at the University of Arkansas’ Agricultural Park and rode 150 miles before returning to see who had the winning hand.
The Veterans Home, which opened in 2006, currently houses 51 residents.
Facility Administrator Nadine Huddleston said the annual fundraiser helps pay for activities and equipment needed for veterans and residents.
“ This is a volunteer group that does this out of the kindness of their hearts, ” she said. “ We have groups that do that periodically. It lets the vets know that there are people out there who care about them and that they haven’t been forgotten. It also enhances the quality of life at the nursing home. ”
The Fayetteville Veterans Home is open to honorably discharged veterans of the U. S. armed forces, the wives of veterans and the parents of a U. S. armed forces member who were killed in the line of duty.
In addition to dietary services, housekeeping, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy and physician services, the Veterans Home offers specialized therapeutic care for disabled veterans.
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