Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Parkway Hero Fund or Another Reason Why I Love the Chips

At last Tuesday’s workout, I mentioned a story about a Cordova Park District worker who was beaten severely while trying to rescue a woman being assaulted at Hagan Park. This event caught the notice of many Chips due to the fact so many of us spend so much time running on the American River Parkway.

This week, I washed out a Cytomax can and set it out for donations. I promised to follow up with the details. First his name: Ricky Dickerson. He is 38 and the father or four. This has been financially devastating for the family.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Ricky Dickerson fights to recover from what police say was a vicious, violent attack brought on by his willingness to help another person, his family struggles to adjust.

A Cordova Recreation and Park District official said the assault on Dickerson was one of the worst incidents he'd ever seen at Hagan Park.

Official reports say it happened when Dickerson, who is a district maintenance worker, and a parks volunteer responded to a woman's call for help.

Dickerson and the volunteer, who were preparing for an event at the park, hurried to help the woman and were attacked by a group of young men, police say.

The volunteer suffered a broken jaw and was stabbed in the back. He remains in seclusion and is recovering.

Dickerson was pounded into a coma, suffering face and head injuries so severe that he remains hospitalized in a long-term care facility.

I’ll be setting out the can at workouts through the next month or so and then we’ll send it on to the trust fund established for his family. Last night, even with my sketchy details, we collected $87.

How to donate: You can donate cash (put it in the can). You can write a check to the BCRC (Buffalo Chips Running Club) with "Ricky Dickerson" in the memo line. Or you can write a check for the "Ricky Dickerson Trust Fund."

I will not be at next week’s workout, so look for Tony Smith. If you can’t find him, look for me and the Cytomax can the week after.

Also, if you’re interested in a benefit concert, you can check out this:

Tim Murphy and the Nor-Cal Necks Bandwill hold a benefit concert for the Ricky Dickerson Trust Fund at 6

p.m. Aug. 19 at Cordova High School, 2239 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova.

Cost:$10 for adults, $7 for children under 12. Buy tickets at the Cordova Recreation and Park District

office, 2197 Chase Drive in Hagan Park, Rancho Cordova; XPECT Great Cuts, 2825 Zinfandel Drive, Rancho

Cordova; and Straw Hat Pizza, 2929 Mather Field Road, Rancho Cordova.

Needed:Donations of barbecuetype food; gift baskets and raffle items; and event volunteers.

Contact:Bridget LaRock at (916) 201-4739 or e-mail bridgetlarock@ comcast.net or call Charlie Rice,

(916) 362-1841, ext. 17.

John Blue

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