Celebrating Mother’s Day with cards and flowers and lunch at Luby’s is fine for sissies, but for a more exotic expression of maternal appreciation, the fifth annual Cancer Sucks “Handlebars and Hotrods Poker Run” may be the holiday weekend’s winning ticket – especially if the holder of said ticket rides into the sunset on a brand new Harley Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle.
Participants are automatically entered in the Harley giveaway and will also be eligible for more than $30,000 in cash and prize giveaways during the event – everyone else can purchase $5 donation tickets for the Harley giveaway at Action Toys in Broken Arrow, Action Powersports in Tulsa, or through the Web site, www.cancersucks.com. Ticketholders for the Harley giveaway need not be present to win.
Registration for the poker run – there is a requested donation of $25 per hand – begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa. All proceeds from the event will go toward cancer research.
A nonprofit organization, “Cancer Sucks” was created by Rick Horton in 1998 in honor of his mother, Donna Holland White, who succumbed to cancer just before Mother’s Day in 1996. Since then, “Cancer Sucks” – aided by corporate sponsors and dedicated volunteers – has raised more than $160,000 for cancer research through various events. The “Handlebars and Hotrods Poker Run” has an average turnout of more than 1,000 participants each year.
2008 Corporate Sponsors include Action Toys, Action Powersports, Trinity Auto Restoration, Twister City Cycle Works, Clear Channel Radio, Budweiser, KMOD, MY 41, Bank of the West, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Hooters, Oklahoma Biker Magazine, Myers-Duran, DinahFuller.com, Cains Ballroom, Guitar Center, Catch the Fever Festivals and Victory Motorcycles – as well as many volunteers.
Past benefactors of “Cancer Sucks” include the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Cancer Research Departments, the American Cancer Society and Project Woman, among others. Last year’s Rocklahoma concert weekend in Pryor generated $30,000 in donations, which benefited the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, OSU Research Department, and the TJ Martell Foundation for Cancer Research.
Event organizers hope to make this year’s poker run the biggest yet. “Everyone has been touched by or knows someone who has been touched by this awful disease,” said a “Cancer Sucks” spokesperson. “It is our hope that, no matter how big or small, our donations will further the research to find a cure.”
In 2007, Action Toys and Motorcycles in Broken Arrow chose “Cancer Sucks” as its charity of choice, donating a custom Buell motorcycle for last year’s “Handlebars and Hotrods” event. This year, the cycle shop has donated a Harley Davidson Electra Glide. More than $25,000 has been invested in this one-of-a-kind bike, which has been serviced and customized by Action Powersports, custom painted by Trinity Auto Restoration and boasts custom motor work by Twister City Cycle Works.
Even if you don’t ride, “Cancer Sucks” invites you to come by and help them be a part of the cure. And since Mother’s Day is Sunday, you can still take Mom to lunch at Luby’s.