July 12, 2008 was our First Annual Poker Run to benefit Holy Family  Home/Hospice located at 6707 State Rd., Parma, Oh 44134 www.holyfamilyhome.com                   

We started this event because of Dennis Donato, who was a resident there and he wanted to do something to raise money for the home.  They run the home on donations and don't ask for payment from the residents, the home is for cancer patients and those that are teminally ill. 

While Dennis was there he could not believe the excellent care that he was receiving from the entire staff.  They were all very pleasant, caring and comforting to him.  He made alot of friends during his 5 1/2 month stay. 

The Poker Run was his choice of events to benefit the home.  This was his way to repay Holy Family and the staff for taking such great care of him. So once he said he wanted to do this, the planning started and on July 12, 2008 we had our first run.  We had a good turn out and were able to raise $6,000.00 for Holy Family, but sad to say Dennis did not make it to see all the bikes and people that turned out for this event.  So now we have turned it into the Dennis Donato Memorial Poker Run and will be holding the 2nd Annual Poker Run on July 11, 2009.  With your support we hope to continue to live out Dennis' wish for this to be an annual event to raise money for such a wonderful place.  We are looking to double our turnout and the amount raised in his memory.

Once again we would like to thank everyone who rode with us last year and for all the sponsors and their donations, we would especially like to thank Vince from Doc's Bar & Grill for donating all the great food at our final stop on the run.  Please see our sponsors page for a list of other sponsors and please visit their sites as well. 

A huge THANK YOU to all the employees from Holy Family Home that came out to help with the event as well.

Many thanks to the following people for helping with the event:

Holy Family Home - Barb Donato, Ruth Highwart, Jeri Lee Holmes, Edie Wood, Matt Bajic, Donna Betley, Jim Miller, we would also like to thank the members of the Blue Knights and the Parma Auxillary Police that came out to help with traffic control.

1st Stop - Buzzard's Roost -  Laurie Whitehouse, Cyndi Alderman

2nd Stop - Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery - Barb Donato, Ruth Highwart, Jeri Lee Holmes, Edie Wood

3rd Stop - Trading Post - Cheryl Skubon, James Murphy

Last Stop - Doc's Bar N Grill - Vince LaMaida and all Doc's Employees