This November, Mesa will be home to the first annual Charity Poker Run, presented by La Mesa Ministries and the Eden Village project. Visitors to the charity event will see Harley-Davidson rides, raffles, and a responsibility to the community.
La Mesa Ministries is presenting the charity event at the Desert Wind Harley-Davidson location at 922 S. Country Club Drive, benefiting Eden Village of Arizona on Saturday, Nov. 9. Registration is from 9 to 11 a.m. with a cost of $25 per rider, and $10 per passenger.
Eden Village USA is a nationwide program, with the tagline “No one sleeps outside.” For years, Eden Village has been building communities of tiny homes for people living with homelessness and disabilities. With the partnership of La Mesa Ministries, this dream has finally reached Mesa, Ariz.
“It takes a community to build a community,” said Rick McClellan, executive director of La Mesa Ministries. “We want as many people to be involved with this as possible to make it a success.”
As the 21-home village was just approved for development in early September, this will be the first major fundraising event to help fund the construction of the village.
The poker run, for those unfamiliar with Desert Wind Harley-Davidson, will include several hotspots that bikers and passengers will stop at, take a photo, and receive a set of cards. The stops will be at points of interest around town where anyone can stop for a bite to eat… only if they don’t want the free lunch offered at the donation site from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., accessible to all riders and volunteers.
Riders who win a poker hand will earn the chance to be named the winner of one of three raffles. There will be a gun raffle, a cigar box raffle, and a general prize raffle too.
Desert Wind Harley-Davidson, La Mesa Ministries, and Eden Village USA proudly come together in solidarity for their community. Providing permanent housing, and a community that feels like home to people living with homelessness, disability, and often substance use disorder is a mission these organizations are passionate about and have the experience to see it through.
“There’s nowhere for these people to go, there’s no affordable housing,” charity organizer Stephanie Roberts said. “People [at] La Mesa Ministries and Eden Village, they are the ones causing real change.”
Rick, who has been in the homebuilding business since the early ‘70s, feels honored to give back to the community with the knowledge he has now. When he met Stephanie and her husband, a Harley biker, a connection was forged. Sometime later, a journey for La Mesa Ministries and Desert Wind Harley-Davidson would begin, a match made in heaven.
La Mesa Ministries and the members of Christ Greenfield Lutheran Church have long been helping people without housing and financial struggles in Mesa. For 10 years, sharing meals and the values of Christ, soon they will have 21 people in a community built by the love of Mesa residents, and the dedication of Eden Village USA.
For additional information about La Mesa Ministries and Eden Village of Arizona, please visit lamesaministries.org and edenvillageusa.org/phoenix-az.