BEDFORD – Darrell Burkett’s last-minute fundraiser in partnership with Suzanne Patton, the Mitchell Grissom Kiwanis, Tri Kappa Cheer Guild, and the Orange County REMC raised $1,044.34 at the Ace Hardware / Ben Franklin store in Mitchell.
Visitors were invited to share their stories about Riley, view the Riley Corvette and other cars that came in for the start-up car show, shop inside and round up their purchases, or donate to the hospital while enjoying Riley swag, free popcorn, cookies, and hot dogs.
From rounding-up, the fundraiser collected $359.41, and $684.93 from donations outside.
The fundraiser began after Darrell Burkett’s grandson was saved by Riley when he was an infant. He’s now a happy 3-year-old little boy, and Darrell decided to take his car, the Riley Corvette, to show and collect donations.
It began small, with Darrell planning to park his car and collect funds for the hospital, but help began to pour in when Suzanne Patton, a long-time family friend, caught wind of it.
Ace Hardware / Ben Franklin is part of the Children’s Miracle Network, and their hospital is Riley. Suzanne said,”‘Hey, we can do that!’ and we joined forces.”
From there, the support only grew as people kept donating things. “It just kept getting bigger and bigger,” Darrell said. “Chicago’s Pizza donated pizzas,” while others also showed their contributions: Interior by Ed brought merch to hand out, Magic Morning Bakery donated cookies, and Orange County REMC brought popcorn.
Friends from Darrell’s many car show excursions drove in their vehicles to show. Darrell attends many car shows with his Corvette, “I do a lot of things for Riley at different car shows,” he explained.
Darrell has big plans for the fundraiser. “Next year it will be a lot bigger,” he said. There were only a few weeks ahead of the event this year, but next year Darrell wants to have a full-blown car show fundraiser for Riley.
This new Riley Children’s Hospital fundraiser is a beautiful example of a community working together to achieve good things.
Look forward to bigger and better next year, and remember to round up for Riley!
