Sorry for the short notice, folks, but we just learned of this event this week.

Dave Rorabaugh, a local man who has fought a two-year battle with cancer, has been hospitalized for the past three months, first in Casper and now in Denver. His wife, Pat, is traveling back and forth from Cheyenne to Denver to be with him, and his insurance only covers so much, so a fundraiser is being held Saturday to raise money to help out.

Starting at 11 a.m., the Dave Rorabaugh Benefit Fundraiser will be held at the Redwood Bar and Lounge, 2105 E. Lincolnway. A $2 admission enters you into the door prize raffle. There also will be a broomstick pool tournament ($10 registration fee) and giveaways.

Live music will feature Pepie, The Chugwater Band and Allison Draw.

For more on this event, click on “To give your money” at right.

Final totals are in for the third annual Cheyenne Day of Giving that was May 9 at the Cheyenne-Kiwanis Community House.

According to event director Greta Morrow, more than 12,000 pounds of nonperishable food and personal-care items and more than 500 pounds of medication were donated.

Fourteen new bone marrow donor registrations were collected, though many more came out to register but were deferred because of age, weight, health history or other reasons.

In addition, 20 new organ donation registrations were received.

A total of 89 units of blood or blood products were donated to United Blood Services with about 120 people volunteering to give.

In addition, cash and checks totaling more than $3,700 were donated for buying items from the wish lists of local charities.

Congratulations to Greta, Pam Pallak and others who worked tirelessly to make this event such a success!

It’s something many people do every week — eating out at a local restaurant. On two separate days in June, it also becomes a way to help the less fortunate in our area.

On Tuesday, June 3, the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies sponsors Eat Out to End Hunger. Restaurants all over the Cowboy State are participating, including the following in Cheyenne: Papa John’s Pizza both on Dell Range Boulevard and on Yellowstone Road, Pretzelmaker/TCBY on Dell Range and The Capitol Grille at The Plains Hotel on Central Avenue.

The restaurants will donate a percentage of their sales to Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies’ Fighting Hunger Feeding Hope Program. Each dollar donated helps provide enough food for four meals for hungry children, seniors and families through member agencies.

This is the second year for the Eating Out to End Hunger event. For the first time this year, a second event is being held locally to benefit Needs Inc.

On Friday, June 13, Dine for Hunger will use the same format to donate a portion of sales to the local nonprofit organization. Restaurants taking part are: Pizzeria Venti on East 17th Street, Rubyjuice on East 17th Street, Poor Richard’s on East Lincolnway, IHOP on Dell Range Boulevard, Dairy Queen on East Pershing Boulevard, Los Amigos on Central Avenue, Hitching Post Inn on West Lincolnway, Arby’s on Yellowstone Road and Shadows Pub and Grill in the former Union Pacific depot.

So when thinking about going out to eat next month, look at the above lists and dates and consider helping out a couple of good causes.

For more information, click on “To give your money” at right.

Friends on Bikes, a local motorcycle enthusiast group, has organized Magic Run 2, the second annual poker run fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Program Accessible Playground at Magic City Enterprises.

The event starts at 10  a.m. Sunday, June 1 at Mad Cyclez, 621 W. Lincolnway. Open to the public, the event features a 113-mile route at five stops where riders draw cards to form poker hands. Numerous door prizes, a cash pot and picnic in Holliday Park highlight the festivities. This is a family event where both adults and children can participate.

Proceeds go toward the purchase of specialized playground equipment designed for children who have a broad spectrum of disabilities, allowing them to experience the benefits of play without limits.

Magic City Enterprises is a community-based provider of services to people with developmental disabilities.

For more information, click on “To give your money” at right.

It may seem like an unusual way to raise money for a country on the other side of the world, but Cheyenne’s Central High quarterback and soon-to-be graduate Ben Pacheco knows a thing or two about grabbing the headlines.

On Sunday, June 1, Pacheco plans to swim 500 meters across Sloans Lake in Lions Park to raise money for The World Food Program’s Darfur Emergency Relief Fund. In addition to raising money, he hopes his “Swim to Save Darfur” event will increase public awareness of the humanitarian issues in Darfur. (For a good primer on the issue, grab a copy of the George Clooney-narrated documentary “Sand and Sorrow.”)

Since 2003, ethnic violence in Darfur, the western region of Sudan in Africa, has killed at least 400,000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes, causing widespread homelessness, famine and disease.

Pacheco is asking people to pledge at least one penny for every meter he swims, which is $5, enough to feed five children in Darfur for a week.

Tax-deductible donations of any amount can be mailed to “Swim to Save Darfur,” c/o Ben Pacheco, 217 E. Fourth Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82001 or deposited directly at any Warren Federal Credit Union branch office in Cheyenne.

Pacheco is a high-school honor student, quarterback of the Central Indians football team and plays trumpet for the Central Jazz Band and Wyoming All-State Band. He will graduate this month and plans to attend the University of Wyoming as a pre-pharmacy major. But he also is an example for youth in our area, many of whom already do great charitable works both here and abroad.

Hats off to Pacheco and his efforts to support fellow humans who he likely will never meet!

The local district of the Boy Scouts of America is getting ready to host its annual fundraising dinner.

The May 28 event at Little America will honor Sloan and Anna Marie Hales with the 2008 Cheyenne Distinguished Citizens Award, and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., will be the keynote speaker.

Ticket prices are pretty high at $175 for individuals and $300 for couples (corporate table rates also are available). But Rob Richey with the Scouts said donations of any amount are welcome and can be mailed to: Boy Scouts of America, c/o Rob Richey, 1602 Summerset Drive, Cheyenne, WY 82001.

All money raised through this special event helps fund local scouting programs.

For more information on the dinner, click on “To give your money” at right.

After raising more than $30,000 last year for the American Cancer Society, Walter Wilson and the folks at Burns Junior-Senior High will once again host a Relay for Life event at the school track.

The third annual Relay for Life at Burns High School will be held May 21-22.

Although Cheyenne has its own large Relay for Life event at Okie Blanchard Stadium June 6-7, and Laramie County Community College just did its first such event earlier this year, it’s great to see a student-started event in the eastern part of the county have such great success!

For more information, call Wilson at 421-7589 or e-mail relaybhs@yahoo.com.

You’ve got one week to get those work gloves ready and schedule a community cleanup event during the Mayor’s Spring Cleanup Week or on Community Cleanup Day May 17.

In the “To give your time” section at right, you’ll find information about special incentives being offered once again by the city’s Sanitation Department during cleanup week. One even applies to Laramie County residents who live outside of city limits!

Now you have no excuse for not cleaning up your own property. But I hope you’ll go a step farther and schedule a community cleanup activity. For example, downtown organizations and volunteers will spend the morning May 20 cleaning up downtown Cheyenne. My church, Grace United Methodist, is working on a May 17 cleanup project, likely to be a section of the Greater Cheyenne Greenway or a public drainage area. Trash has blown into these areas all winter, and now it’s time to bag that trash and haul it away.

If you don’t believe me that it’s bad, take a walk or bike ride along the Greenway section east of Ridge Road, between there and College Drive. I’ve never seen so much trash in that drainage area. Who’s going to clean that up? Answer: We can!

When you schedule your cleanup event, drop me an e-mail at everyonegives@wyomingnews.com. I’ll publicize it through “Everyone gives, Everyone gains” and encourage other area residents to join you.

Working together, we can make Cheyenne a more attractive community, both for residents and visitors. See you out there May 17-23!

I’ve said it before here, but I’ll say it again — today’s third annual Day of Giving is the ultimate “Everyone gives, Everyone gains” event. It also has enough ways to give that everyone in the community can participate in at least a small way.

Whether you give blood, sign up for the bone marrow donor registry, sign up as an organ and tissue donor, donate unused medications or donate nonperishable food or personal-care items or a combination of the above, you’ll be making a difference in the life of at least one other person.

Maybe you could even encourage your co-workers, friends and neighbors to join you. At Warren Federal Credit Union, in addition to making a corporate donation to the commiteee, employees are paid during their lunch hour so they can participate in Day of Giving. In addition, many employees are volunteering at their favorite charity, reading to a classroom, buying lunch for a stranger and buying someone’s groceries.

Even if you can’t go to that extent, please take some time today between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to go to the Cheyenne-Kiwanis Community House in Lions Park and participate in the Day of Giving. You’ll be glad you did!

AARP Wyoming is seeking six to eight volunteers to help us install laminate wood flooring and window and door trim on a Habitat for Humanity project that is being built in Cheyenne.

Join AARP staff members from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during its annual Day of Service project Friday. They’ll even provide lunch!

Work will take place on a construction site, involve physical labor and be at the volunteers’ own risk. Volunteers do not need to bring tools, but they do need to dress warmly and comfortably.

If you’re interested in volunteering to help with this worthy project, call Bret Baugh in the AARP Wyoming office at 307-432-5814 before noon on Thursday, May 8. Bret will provide volunteers with directions to the construction site and more details about the project.