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The ITF and several other organisations are sponsoring a new charity event on 12-15 July to benefit seafarers in the United States.
The inaugural 2013 Poker Run event will be for Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) and its International Seafarers Center based in Beaumont, Texas. The centre serves the estimated 46,000 mariners who arrive every year in its local ports on over 2,100 deep-sea vessels, together with crews from the more than 300 shrimp boats that sail the Gulf of Mexico. Future runs will benefit other worthy organisations in the city or country which hosts the Fair Practices Committee.
Participants, many of whom will travel by motorcycle, will collect playing cards in three states - Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan - on a scenic route covering approximately 1,400 miles (2,250km). At the end of the run, the participant with the best and worst hand wins the pot.
The ITF 2013 Poker Run is also being supported by the Seafarers International Union of Canada, the Maritime Union of Australia, Nautilus International, the National Union of Merchant Marine Officers (SINDMAR) in Brazil and the Seafarers International Union of North America.
Dave Heindel, chair of the ITF seafarers’ committee, said: “This event should be great fun, travelling through amazing Great Lakes scenery, and is for a very deserving cause. I strongly urge people to sign up for it. Those who don’t want to make the trip can still support the run by buying our T-shirts and bandanas.”
The registration fee for the run is US $100, T-shirts are US $25 and bandanas are US $10. Anyone interested in taking part or buying merchandise should contact Dave Heindel at dwheindel@seafarers.org.(mailto:dwheindel@seafarers.org)
The route can be viewed here. (http://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/road.jsp?roadId=513887&locale=en_US)