By Christine Corbett, Director of Philanthropy, David’s Refuge
David’s Refuge is a growing local non-profit with a unique mission to provide respite, resources and support to parents and guardians of children with special needs or life-threatening illnesses in an effort to combat caregiver burnout. They do this through an array of Respite, Wellness and Community programs which remind caregivers they are not alone, what they do matters, and that God and this community loves them.
In 2021, when planning for a unique event at Pineview Run & Country Club, Pierre Morrisseau, CEO of OneGroup wanted to include a charity component, and reached out to the team at David’s Refuge to explore the idea. At that point, The Pineview Run Celebrity Challenge was born, with local friends signing up to be trained on driving the 1.1-mile racetrack, with a light-hearted race day scheduled for 1 month later.
During that month, drivers would raise at least $1,000 to support the mission of David’s Refuge. As a competitive advantage, for every $1,000 that drivers raise, one tenth of a second is taken off their final track time. This means that the slowest drivers still have a great chance of winning the race and claiming bragging rights for the year.
Board Member and recent celebrity driver Craig Zinserling began supporting caregivers after volunteering at a David’s Refuge event through his church. Since that day, his desire to come alongside caregivers has only grown. When asked why he chose to drive in the 2022 Pineview Run Celebrity Challenge, Craig shared “My wife and I have three children, all of whom are healthy, typical kids requiring no special care. Marriage and kids have their own challenges. Like many, I find it hard to imagine adding full-time caregiving to the mix, yet these families do it every day. I am proud to support David’s Refuge and play my part in combatting caregiver burnout which is critical here in our community. Fast cars and a racetrack just make it that much more fun.” Craig succeeded in raising more than $6,500 for his race, all while introducing new friends to the mission of David’s Refuge.
The last two years have featured 24 amazing local “celebrities” in total and generated more than $75,000 in support of caregivers.
The 2023 Pineview Run Celebrity Challenge will take place in the Spring, if you are interested in joining as a celebrity driver, please contact Christine Corbett, Director of Philanthropy at David’s Refuge, at christinecorbett@davidsrefuge.org.