Sunday, August 30 has officially been designated “Family Fun Day” at Batavia Downs and will feature an auction with a variety of items signed by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, as well as the wildly popular wiener dog races
. All proceeds from the events will benefit the Batavia site of Mercy Flight of Western New York.
The auction will be held from noon to 5 p.m. in The Paddock Room on the lower level of The Downs. The autographed Kelly items include a #12 jersey, an official Jim Kelly Hall of Fame football and an official Bills helmet. They were donated by Thomas and Catherine Barzycki of Great Lakes Plastic in Buffalo.
A full matinee card of harness racing begins at 1:15 p.m. The popular wiener dog races follow the last race of the day, approximately 4:30 p.m. Eight wiener dogs will race in five heats with the top finisher from each heat competing in a five-way final. Owners of the top three finishers in the finals will receive free play for Batavia Downs Casino. All participating dogs will receive “doggie bags” from Pet Supplies Plus, the official sponsor.
Batavia Downs Casino is also sponsoring a golf tournament to benefit Mercy Flight. It will be held at Terry Hills Golf Course on Wednesday, September 16.
Anyone wishing to donate items to the auction or learn more about the Family Fun Day events or the golf tournament may contact Promotional Marketing Specialist Todd Haight at 585-343-3750 ext. 445.
(With files from Batavia Downs)
During my 20 years as an RN
During my 20 years as an RN (much if it in the ICU and ER) many of my patients arrived by Mercy Flight. I can't say enough about this wonderful, vital and ---unfortunately necessary---group. Countless lives have been saved, and many times the severity of the injury and degree of complications were lessened because Mercy Flight got the patients to a medical facility so quickly. Mercy Flight prides themselves on readiness and safety---when a call comes in they are typically in the air within 5 minutes. Mercy Flight enables more than 54% of the population (small towns and rural areas) to be at a Grade 1 trauma center within 60 minutes. They are currently trying to raise enough money to get night vision goggles for all their crews to make landing at night (especially in rural areas) safer. PLEASE----if there is any way you can help it would be greatly appreciated! If you can't attend the races on Sunday, tax deductible donations are also accepted!
You can donate on-line with your American Express, Visa, Mastercard or Discover card. The following link will take you to our donation page at NYCharities.org.
http://www.nycharities.org/donate/charitydonate.asp?id=2487
Or you can mail this form below with your tax-deductible donation to: Mercy Flight Inc., Flying Tigers - Buffalo Airport, 100 Amherst Villa Road, Buffalo, NY 14225-1432. if you prefer to use a credit card, but do not have internet access, you may also fax it to us at 716-626-4106 or call us at 716-626-4100 and we will take your information over the phone.
http://mercyflight.org/site/downloads-a-forms/doc_download/4-donation-f…