By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Members of the Yukon Main Street “Cruise Team” met recently with representatives of their four selected help causes as plans “rev up” for Yukon’s fourth annual Route 66 car cruise.
The 2022 Cruise-in for a Cause will benefit these local non-profits that serve Canadian County – Youth & Family Services, Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program (TRP), Yukon Mobile Meals, and Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
Cruisers will be out from 5-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 in downtown Yukon.
“We are on our road to having lots of fun,” said cruise coordinator Judy Austin, chairman of the Yukon 66 Main Street board.
“It’s going to be a great night – a fun night.”
She also predicts great weather, noting, “It’s going to be gorgeous.”
Austin, during a June 9th Cruise Team meeting inside the Yukon Main Street office, told officials with the four causes that “the whole car show is about you guys.”
Austin encouraged cause participants to offer “fun activities” at their advocacy booths that “draw people in” as they promote their programs.
Besides earning cash donations, each help cause will choose a “tagline” for product drives as they collect needed items to benefit their clients.
For example, Youth & Family Services plans a “Sock It to Me” drive to encourage people to donate socks.
Yukon Main Street Director Vicki Davis told the group that “park-and-show” registrations are now open – each vehicle owner who registers will choose which cause gets 50% of their registration fee.
Orders for this year’s Cruise-in for a Cause T-shirts – available in both purple and green – also are being taken.
The four causes were reminded to have enough volunteers to work their advocacy booths and two “donation stations” on Main Street during the Sept. 15th cruise.
Yukon’s Cruise-in for a Cause started in September 2018 and has grown each year.
“This has become a fantastic evening under the lights of Main Street when car enthusiasts and the community join together for a passive-leisure open cruise on Route 66 while supporting local, charitable causes,” Davis said.
All types of vehicles are welcome – vintage, classics, hot rods, muscle cars, and late models.
HELPING THE CAUSES
Youth & Family Services, Savannah Station, Yukon Mobile Meals, and Canadian County CASA were chosen in March among eight non-profits who submitted cause proposals.
Canadian County CASA is the only returnee to the annual Cruise-in for a Cause; the other three are new participants.
- Youth & Family Services, 7565 E Highway 66, provides an emergency youth shelter, at-risk youth counseling services, transitional living services, and a foster care program for Canadian County residents. YFS recruits foster parents to house children who have been abused and neglected.
- Savannah Station, 13420 N Frisco Road, is a therapeutic horseback-riding program that focus on helping people ages 4 years and above who have cognitive and physical special needs. Fifty-four people now take weekly lessons offered free to participating families at a 20-acre facility in Yukon.
- Yukon Mobile Meals, 1200 Lakeshore, offers nutritious lunch meals to elderly, disabled and convalescing Yukon residents. Mobile Meals’ volunteer route drivers also provide regular checks on the program’s homebound food recipients. With food prices rising, funds raised keep meal prices down.
- Canadian County CASA, 7905 E Highway 66, helps protect abused and neglected children as the “eyes and ears” of the court outside the courtroom. In 2021, CASA’s trained volunteers served 131 of nearly 400 Canadian County children in Department of Human Services’ custody.
The Yukon 66 Main Street Cruise Team and participating causes will promote this fall’s Cruise-in for a Cause during a “Route 66 Triple Tour” celebration this Saturday, June 18.
A rockabilly concert featuring Dale Watson and food trucks will highlight Yukon’s portion of the event from 4:30-8:30 p.m. near Fourth and Main.
The cities of Warr Acres and Bethany will celebrate Route 66 with events of their own earlier in the day.
For more information about Yukon’s 2022 Cruise-in for a Cause, email mainstreet@yukonok.gov, call (405) 350-5999 or visit the Yukon Main Street office at 528 W Main.
