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All the while still competing against each other, BMX racers at Warsaw's Hire Park Saturday will be riding for the same team.
The idea drawn up by Hire Park Director Dan Rumple, the track will host the Austin McCleary Benefit Race Saturday, with registration from noon to 2 p.m. and racing slated to start around 2:30 p.m.
The 3-year-old McCleary, son of Andy and Angie McCleary, has stage 3 neuroblastoma and is undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
All money raised from the $10 registration fee, as well as a raffle, will be donated to the McCleary family.
Twenty-plus businesses donated prizes and products for the raffle, something Kari Rumple, wife of Dan Rumple, said gave her and her husband goosebumps.
"It gave Dan and I goosebumps," Kari Rumple said. "Everybody we talked to said they would help. People have really reached out and put their arms around this family. We're hoping to get a great turnout. Whether you want to come out and race or not, you can come out and watch and be a part of the raffle."
Though a license is normally required for competition at Hire Park, anyone is invited to participate Saturday in the Austin McCleary Benefit Race, with classes for those with training wheels on up to a parents race.
"Basically anyone with a bike can come out and race if they want," Kari Rumple said.
According to www.cancerbacup.org, neuroblastoma is a cancer of specialized nerve cells called neural crest cells. Neural crest cells are involved in the development of the nervous system.
In most cases, neuroblastoma occurs in the adrenal glands above the kidneys.
As is the case with most cancers, the cause of neuroblastoma is unknown.
