National Team Penning Championships announces the kickoff of the 2nd Annual Ride For The Kids at the NTPC Sanctioned show scheduled for April 24-25 at THE RANCH, Larimer County, Colorado. Like last year's event the 2004 Edition will feature a Celebrity/Charity Ranch Sort, Country Radio K-99's Susan Moore with Wayne Wise Pro Rodeo Announce will be announcing this years event and will be the hottest thing going on in Northern Colorado. Plan to stop by to get autographs from the Denver Bronco Cheerleaders and Miss Rodeo Colorado Cassidy Reid.

New this year it will be a wild and wooly Ranch Rodeo and Wild Horse Race Saturday evening commencing at 6pm with a traditional western Grand Entry. Topping off the evening someone will win a brand new Ford F-150 truck from Brighton Ford, and it may as well be you! (This is a one year pre-paid lease).

Last year Dave Wolfe, President of NTPC, and Paul Hunt joined forces with country radio station K-99 to produce a Celebrity/Charity Sort at Island Grove Park in Greeley CO. That initial effort raised $12,000 for Kid Kamps at Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley CO. The building was overflowing as spectators crowded in to watch 32 teams introduce the thrilling sport of Ranch Sorting while adding to the coffer of a local charity for kids. It was obvious that a larger venue would be needed for the 2nd Annual Ride For The Kids.

The focus will still be on children but three organizations will benefit this year. Paul Hunt, chairman of the event, has set a lofty goal of raising $35,000 to assist the abused or in-need children served by these fine organizations.

Kate Farabaugh, Pediatric Rehabilitation Manager at North Colorado Medical Center, reports that due in large part to the generous gift from last year's Celebrity/Charity Ranch Sort, they were able to conduct six different Kids Kamps: Kourt Sports Camp, Saddle Up Kamp, Pitter Patter Kamp, Dance Kamp, Fantastic Gymnastics Kamp and Rock Climbing Kamp. All were designed to help special needs kids improve speech and motor skills, coordination, and social interaction skills while providing them with summer recreation activity enjoyed by any child. The 81 children who participated ranged in age from three to eight years of age and suffered from a variety of disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, speech delay, brain injury, attention deficit disorders, spinal cord injuries, sensory integration disorders and other problems. No other program in Northern Colorado has the capacity to involve children with these conditions. Ride For The Kids welcomes back Kids Kamps.

Realities For Children Inc. based in Fort Collins CO will not only be a beneficiary, but has also signed on to an impressive list of sponsors. Former Larimer County child protection worker Craig Secher designed this program after realizing that abused and neglected children were slipping through the cracks of the system and going without the services they so badly needed. The program provides emergency funding on a case-by-case basis to cover the needs of these children and strives to provide community education on child abuse problems locally. The Realities For Children Triumph Awards recognizes the strength and accomplishment of outstanding youth in the community who have been able to overcome an abusive family situation and excel academically and socially in the face of adversity. The 2004 Triumph Award Winner will receive at $40,000 College Scholarship to further assist in changing destiny through education. We hope to introduce the winner at the Ride For The Kids Celebrity/Charity Ranch Sort.

According to Terry Harding, Director of Rehab Services for McKee Medical Center in Loveland CO, their Pediatric Clinic has developed at specialized program called KidSelf which assures early access to speech, occupational and physical therapy services for children from uninsured or under-insured families by providing financial assistance. KidSelf is based on the firm belief that early intervention is the key to successful outcomes for children in need of therapy services. The pediatric population in this program ranges from newborns through pre-school and continues into school-aged children if necessary. Like all three of this year's recipients, KidSelf relies on community support and Ride For The Kids welcomes them to THE RANCH for the 2004 Celebrity/Charity Ranch Sort.

Any charity event is only as good as it's sponsors and the early responders are definitely on the A-List. National Team Penning Championships is joined by their first affiliate Rocky Mountain Team Penning Association, Country Radio K-99, North-Star Homes, LaFarge North America (providers of asphalt paving, concrete, sand and gravel), Brighton Ford, J. P. Moran Design, Inc. Realities For Children, K &W Embroidery, Walmart, Kinko's and Advantage Wireless in Fort Collins and Greeley. Web Your Business is providing the official website for up to the minute information on the event at www.rideforthekids.net. Excitement will start building early as several of the sponsors host K-99 broadcasts about Ride For The Kids. Listen and watch for announcements because each one will be an additional opportunity to win the 2004 F150 truck to be given away April 24 at THE RANCH. (Pickup is a one year pre-paid lease)

For those not familiar with the sport of ranch sorting, the basics are fairly simple. There will be 10 head of cattle numbered 0 to 9 plus two cattle without numbers on one side of the arena. From the opposing side a team of three riders will head toward the cattle. When the first rider crosses the starting line, the flag drops, time commences and the announcer calls out the number the team has drawn. That is the first numbered cow that must be sorted from the herd and driven across the line. The team has 90 seconds to cut 10 cattle out of the herd in numerical order and drive them across the line without letting either of the unnumbered cattle across and without letting any of the numbered cattle back across the line towards the herd. The flag drops and time is called when 10 cattle have crossed the line. If 90 seconds elapses before that occurs, the flag drops and the team gets credit for the number of cattle they have pushed across the line.

Tension builds from the first team to the last team; because this is one sport where the old Yogi Berra statement is definitely true "It's not over till it's over!" No matter how many fantastic runs have already been made, the last team still has a chance to make a faster run.

Ride For The Kids Celebrity/Charity Sort will be limited to 40 teams. Sponsorship will be $300 per team and any individual, business or organization is welcome to participate as a sponsor. All of the money will go to charity and the winning team will be presented with beautiful Gist Buckles. (Buckles Sponsored By Rich Smidt Quarter Horses)

Spectators are invited to two full days of Team Penning and Ranch Sorting with no admission charge. There will be admission charged Saturday evening to benefit Ride For The Kids. Purchase tickets in advance at King Soopers for $7.00. Kids 6 & younger accompanied by an adult are free and $9.00 at the door. This could well be the best ticket in town admitting you to an old fashioned Wild West Show complete with Ranch Rodeo, Wild Horse Race, Celebrity/Charity Ranch Sort and the Grand Finale, the 2004 Ford F-150 Truck Give Away. (Pickup is a one year pre-paid lease) We will be picking five audience members during the performance over the age of 18 for a chance to win the truck.

For further information contact:

or

Special Thanks to Carla Porter for all of her efforts in helping to organize this information!

Copyright © 2004 - Ride For The Kids
All Rights Reserved by Their Respective Owners