Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 26, 2006

Day Off
Last night was fun, but today is even better. We started the day by walking back up to Strikers for breakfast. Carolyn cooked us some breakfast burritos and pancakes. We are so appreciative of all the generosity Chris and Carolyn gave us this stay. After breakfast, Randy led us in preparing the town park for the fundraising barbeque this evening. We drove around town in the pick up truck and grabbed some benches and tables to set up in the park. We even borrowed a huge dunk tank. For a dollar, anyone could have three attempts to dunk a 4Ker into the ice water, and they could also pour an extra bag of ice in the tank for a dollar.

The dunk tank proved to be a huge success as everyone wanted to see the 4Kers suffer. However, there were plenty of other festivities going on in the park. Chris Weier and I manned the hamburgers and hotdogs on the huge grill that could hold up to 100 burgers at a time. I can proudly say that each burger that was eaten tonight was flipped by me, and each dog was rolled by Chris. We also had games for the children, where they could win raffle tickets for prizes. In addition to the barbecue, there was a bake sale, and t-shirt sale. I could hardly believe that at the end of the night, we had raised a grand total of over $1,000! All the support was absolutely amazing. Then it was brought to our attention that a group of kids from Benkelman went door to door and asked for donations for the Hopkins 4K for Cancer, since we were coming through their town. These kids raised an additional $700 for us!

Once it turned dark and the festivities toned down, we held a dance in the park. We had a professional DJ and awesome speakers. The Nebraskans showed us how to do certain dances that we had never seen before. I met a lot of kids who I invited to join us tomorrow morning to ride with us out of town. They were thrilled at the idea of riding with us, and I was just as thrilled to have enthusiastic company.

Everyone in Benkelman it seemed was so nice and generous. I can’t say enough about our gracious hosts Chris and Carolyn for everything they have done for our organization. We love you guys from the bottom of our hearts!

-David