San Joaquin Valley Miata Club Drives Discovery Center Towards 10 Camp Scholarships

This spring, the San Joaquin Valley Miata Club hosted their annual "Poker Run", an event they have hosted once a year since the club was established in the mid-1990s.
Drivers anxiously await their route maps at the 2007 San Joaquin Valley Miata Club “Poker Run”
Each year, the Miata Club selects a non-profit organization to be the beneficiary of the raffle ticket sales at the event. This year, the club selected The Discovery Center as the recipient of the raffle ticket funds.

"We chose The Discovery Center at the suggestion of one of our members who is a retired teacher," said Sharon Mack, the club Secretary. "Everyone remembered going to The Discovery Center as a child, or with their own children. It was a shoe-in."

The annual "Poker Run" took place on March 31st and April 1 st. As in past years, the event attracted participants from as far as San Diego, Las Vegas, and even Arizona. "Each event attracts more and more Miata people that come up to run their cars, drive through the foothills, and do something good for charity at the same time," said Mack.

When participants arrived at the run's start location, they were given a map that revealed the route through the Valley designated for this year's event. Each entrant is also given a t-shirt and one playing card. Along the route, Miata drivers stop at designated points for meals provided by the club and additional playing cards.

At the end of the run, each driver receives a fifth and final playing card. After the club enjoys dinner together, they award trophies for the best and worst poker hands. Then the fun continues as Miata club members purchase raffle tickets to win multiple car-related prizes.

“Poker Run” entrants anxiously wait to hear their raffle ticket numbers called

Raffle prizes are donated by organizations, such as Moss Motors and McGuire's Wax Products. Entrants also commonly bring their own prizes such to sweeten the pot.

With all of the donated prizes, Mack says the raffle can take up to two hours to finish. "Everybody really dug deep into their pockets to buy strings of raffle tickets," Mack said of the support for The Discovery Center. The Discovery Center was thrilled with the fundraising efforts of the club. "It is groups like the Miata Club that make our Community Service possible," said Janet Berry, President of The Discovery Center. "I love the concept of making a fun outing into a fundraiser."

Through the fundraiser, and a generous donation from their own treasury, the San Joaquin Valley Miata Club donated $2,000 to The Discovery Center. Of this money, $1,000 was contributed to the general fund that finances The Discovery Center's educational programs. The other $1,000 was used to provide summer camp scholarships to children who would normally not have the opportunity to attend these fun and educational camps. With scholarship matching provided by corporate sponsor DPS Telecom, this money provided scholarships for 10 children.

"We were very proud to work with The Discovery Center, Mack said. "It's a great organization. You can tell everyone is there because they want to be, and their hearts are really in the right place."

For more information on how your child or a child that you know can benefit from camp scholarships by The Discovery Center, or if you would like to host your own fundraiser to support learning in your community, please contact The Discovery Center office at 559-251-5533. You can also learn more about our summer camp scholarships on our website.