March 28, 2024

Racin’ for a Cure 2016 held

Racin' for a Cure 2016 took place Saturday, Oct. 22.

United Farmers Cooperative, previously Farmers Cooperative Company, has hosted the Racin’ For a Cure Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser event for seven years.

Racin’ For a Cure started from a campaign Purina Animal Nutrition sponsored in 2009 called PINK 50. Carissa McFarland, Purina Lifestyle product specialist, had the idea to have a barrel-race fundraiser to raise money in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and donate the proceeds to a local organization.

During the first four years of Racin’ For a Cure, it was held north of Creston at the Travis family arena. As the event started to gain traction, the race was moved to Union County Fairgrounds in Afton. The past three years, it has continued to grow and trademark itself as a family fun day to dress up in pink and raise money for a great cause.

One of the main goals from the start of Racin’ For a Cure was the money should stay local and support the local community. At the beginning, a local women’s group was chosen to donate the money to. But, for the past few years, proceeds have gone to Greater Regional Cancer Center in Creston. Greater Regional Medical Center employees throughout the hospital get involved by buying T-shirts and donating to the cause.

This year, the race had more than 200 entries in the three classes combined: open, youth and senior. A portion of every entry is donated to GRMC.

On race day, there is a silent auction set up with donations from local businesses and community members. All the proceeds from the silent auction are donated. This year, the silent auction brought in more than $650. There was also a raffle available. The competitors buy tickets to enter into a drawing for prizes. Prizes are also awarded to the contestants. This year, Union County Fair Board ran the concession stand and donated to the fund, as well. There was also a “best in pink” contest. This is a contest everyone in the family can do. The contestants have to dress themselves and their horse in as much pink as they can. It is a sight to see, especially when they are wearing a pink tutu while running barrels.

Every year, Podium Ink of Mount Ayr designs a new T-shirt, which includes all of the generous sponsors on the back. The money generated from the T-shirt sales is also donated. This year, around 200 shirts were sold.

After all the pink tutus were put away and the pink hairspray was gone, United Farmers Cooperative was able to donate more than $2,500 to local members of the community in their battle to win the fight against breast cancer.