Poker Run

Annual event to remember Wyatt Hopkins and to help save other children

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

— Plans are underway for the first annual Wyatt Hopkins Memorial Poker Run, set for May 1.

The Decatur Fire Department will be sponsoring the event, and 100 percent of the profits will go to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, according to Fire Chief David Flynt.

Wyatt was the son of Decatur firefigher Brent Hopkins and his wife Sara. He was the grandson of retired Decatur firefighter Rob Hopkins. Wyatt was born at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital last year and lived only a few days.

Firefighters came up with the idea for the poker run, not only to honor Wyatt’s memory but also to help other children who face serious health challenges.

The Arkansas Children’s Hospitals offers families an amazing level of support, as well as the latest medical technology, Rob Hopkins explained.

“Through a fireman’s son being lost, other children can be helped,” he said.

“We are wanting to do this for a number of reasons. It (the illness and loss of a child) affected our fire department family,” Flynt said, “We saw and felt how it affected us. We can only imagine how it effects other families, and we wanted to help them.”

The poker run is still in the planning stages, and a committee has been formed to plan the event, Flynt said. The committee is working on setting up a route and has already had some prize donations, he said.

Flynt said the fire department plans to hold Wyatt Hopkins Memorial Poker Run every year on May 1, with a rain date of May 8.

“This is more than helping an organization out of the goodness of our heart. This is helping something close to our heart,” Flynt said.

News, Pages 1 on 01/06/2010