The Rotary Club is known for their good deeds worldwide over a span of decades.
Here in Lake Orion, the two-year club is growing up and holding their first major fundraiser, the 1st Annual Dual-a-Thon, on Saturday, July 11 at Atwater Park.
Registration for the biking and running event will take place 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. that morning.
Rotary members are excited to be holding their first big event.
‘We’re not infants anymore, we’re toddlers now,? said outgoing president Peggy Bartz.
The club is in transition, with incoming president, Barkley Pierce, soon to take over duties.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit several Rotary endeavors, according to Bartz.
Clubs across the world are continually fundraising for Rotary’s main cause, the eradication of polio.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently gave the organization $200 million for the cause, funds the Rotary Foundation has to match.
Bartz said a portion of money raised by the event will go to this. The club hopes to raise $1,000 each year to match Gates? contribution.
More locally, proceeds from the bike/run will support the Lake Orion Beds for Kids Program.
‘There are so many kids in our area that aren’t sleeping in beds,? Bartz said.
In its yearlong existence, the program has helped purchase and distribute around 50 beds in Lake Orion.
The Rotary partners with Love INC. for the program. They hope to soon expand it to include adults and begin donating full-sized beds.
Bartz said the club had several brainstorming sessions and came up with numerous fundraising ideas including a popular charity poker night.
In the end, the club voted ‘very democratically? to have the Dual-a-Thon, which is like a triatholon minus the swimming, according to Bartz.
The local running and cycling business community has already rallied around the event, with Hansons Running Shop and Paint Creek Bicycles pledging their support in various way, Bartz said.
Many other supporters were integral to the event, Bartz added, and can be seen on the Lake Orion Sunrise Rotary Club’s Web site.
The running route will be mostly on the Paint Creek trail. A mountain bike is recommended for the cycling leg of the Dual-a-Thon as most of the trails will be dirt roads with hills.
The adult race starts at 9 a.m. and the kid’s race at 11:15 a.m. The start and finish is at Atwater Park.
Registration before July 4 is $30 and $40 after. The fee for children is $15, or free with an adult entry.
For more information and forms, visit www.lakeorionrotary.org or contact Greg Partamian at 248-459-8469.