Bronz Otago Motorcycle Club member A.J. Todd said the club’s second annual ‘‘poker run’’ would raise funds for charity Heart Kids.
The ride of about 400km includes five stops — Milton, Balclutha, Gore, Beaumont and Waihola. At each stop, participants would be given a playing card.
At the final stop, the players holding the three best poker hands win prizes including a holiday package in Kaka Point. Raffle prizes include two Highlanders jerseys — one signed by the team and another worn during a match by hooker Liam Coltman. Dunedin ‘‘Heart Kids’’ children would judge who wins a trophy for owning the best motorcycle.
When nearly 50 riders travelled around the South on the inaugural run last year, a club member’s son, Jackson Broome, was in hospital having heart surgery.
‘‘One of our own was on the operating table,’’ Mr Todd said. Heart Kids Otago service co-ordinator Cecilia Sullivan-Grant said Jackson had ‘‘his wee chest cracked open’’ so ‘‘amazing’’ surgeons could operate on his heart, which was ‘‘the size of a walnut’’.
The charity provides families with support — ‘‘practical and emotional’’ — to help during the ‘‘roller coaster ride’’ for families.
‘‘We are a small charity with a massive job.’’ Mr Todd said the run will leave the Otago Motorcycle Club in 3 Clark St, central Dunedin, at 9am ‘‘sharp’’ and return by 7pm for a prizegiving.
