Start your engines for Cruisers Charities Tour

The Island Area Cruisers will put on the 13th annual Island Area Cruisers Charities Tour on Saturday at both Wal-Mart locations in Grand Island and also the Wal-Mart in Hastings.

This year's tour will benefit Prevent Blindness Nebraska, one of the 18 charities under the umbrella of Combined Health Charities-Nebraska, said Kari Hooker-Leep, regional director for CHC-Nebraska.

Hooker-Leep said that, each year, the Island Area Cruisers have picked a charity to support with their cruise.

"For the majority of those 13 years, they have designated one of the charities for Community Health Charities," Hooker-Leep said. She said CHC and its agencies are grateful to have benefited from the efforts of the Island Area Cruisers.

"Their motto is, ’The car club that cares about the community,'" Hooker-Leep said.

People who enter a vehicle in the annual Charities Tour pay a $15 registration fee, which benefits the designated CHC agency, in this case, Prevent Blindness Nebraska, Hooker-Leep said.

Last year, the Island Area Cruisers chose the Alzheimer's Association as the beneficiary agency. Two years ago, the car club chose Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation dedicated to curing breast cancer, as the beneficiary agency.

This year's tour will mark the seventh consecutive year that the Island Area Cruisers have chosen to benefit a CHC-Nebraska agency.

Although the Island Area Cruisers have chosen Prevent Blindness Nebraska as this year's designated agency, people who enter a vehicle in the tour can pick any one of the other 17 CHC health organizations to benefit from their participation.

Money also will be raised via a raffle and chances for other prizes that both cruisers and visitors can participate in, Hooker-Leep said.

Of course, another primary goal for the event is to have fun, she said. People who enjoy looking at cars, motorcycles and other vehicles can come out to "meet and mix" with the people who have entered their classic cars in the annual tour.

Hooker-Leep said people who have participated in previous years also have entered motorcycles and trucks.

She said the tour starts in the morning at the north Wal-Mart in Grand Island. It moves to the south Wal-Mart in Grand Island at mid-morning and stays in that location until early afternoon, when it moves to the Hastings Wal-Mart.

Hooker-Leep said the raffle drawing will be in the late afternoon at the Hastings Wal-Mart.

She said Island Area Cruisers and the South Locust Sonic will help Prevent Blindness Nebraska from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday. Members of the Island Area Cruisers will be at the drive-in, and 10 percent of the proceeds from all food and beverages purchased will be donated to Prevent Blindness Nebraska.