Brookings Register

By: Mondell Keck, The Brookings Register

Updated: 8 hours ago / Posted Aug 31, 2023

BROOKINGS — The opportunity to change a veteran’s life is rolling into Brookings on Saturday in the form of the 19th annual 727th/DAV Charity Poker Run.

The funds raised during this event will go toward the hospital transportation network for Disabled American Veterans. Last year alone, $47,000 was raised. Over the life of the event, around $396,000 has been given to the DAV. That’s not chump change, folks, and every dollar has made a difference.

“If (donors) could just see the expressions and feel the emotions of those veterans that are at the Disabled American Veterans’ fall conference when we present that check to them … it really makes it all worthwhile, the hard work that goes into the event and the participation and the donations,” Bob Foster said in a recent interview with the Brookings Register. “You get a sense of accomplishment that you really helped somebody.”

Foster is one of the driving forces behind the annual 727th/DAV Charity Poker Run. He said the support from people and businesses in the area is outstanding.

“I think it gets stronger every year,” he said. “Between donations and the participation and the parade, when we do the parade down Sixth Street and Main Avenue, there’s been more support on the sidelines that root the group on and thank them for what they’re doing by their applause and hoots and hollers and all of that.”

Every bit helps, there’s no question about that. After all, the DAV’s hospital transportation network spans all of South Dakota and also extends into southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa. According to information in a letter from Foster to potential donors, the network:

“We are open to donations for the hospital transportation fund up to the day of the event, and we’ve even had some people that have donated shortly after the event,” Foster said. “This check will be presented to the hospital transportation network at the DAV’s fall conference, which is the seventh of October this year in Sioux Falls. So they have up to that date if they want to donate to the cause — we’ll gladly take any donations up to that point.”

Before then, though, people in Brookings can expect some razzle and dazzle come high noon Saturday, when hundreds of motorcycles and other vehicles set out from the Dacotah Bank Center at 824 32nd Ave. They’ll travel west along Sixth Street before turning south onto Main Avenue.

“The goal is to meet or exceed our attendance and funds raised that we have in years past,” Foster noted. “It seems like we’ve been able to do that over the years. It continues to grow through word of mouth and the promoting that we do.”

That growth is because of Foster and everyone else involved in the annual charity poker run, along with the people and businesses that provide donations. Do you want to join that club? Here’s some contact information, then:

“We’ve done it enough years that we’ve kind of figured out the do’s and the don’ts and that kind of thing, and I think we have a pretty well-oiled machine now,” Foster concluded. “From the setup that we start doing on Friday to the event on Saturday and all the pre-planning that we do throughout the year, the solicitation of sponsors, door prizes, that kind of thing — the group has held together good and does a good job of putting it all together. It basically just happens.”

It most certainly does, and in doing so it literally gives a lift to thousands of veterans in South Dakota.

On a related note, Foster said the South Dakota branch of the Disabled American Veterans group is searching for volunteer drivers.

“You don’t need to be a veteran to drive the vans,” he said. “You just need to be wanting to volunteer your time to get the vets to the VA and stuff like that.”

The driver shortage has been an issue for a couple of years now. Foster noted that multiple factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and drivers getting older, play a role in the situation as it is now.

If you’re interested, go to https://www.dav.org/get-involved/volunteer/drive-a-vehicle/.

— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].