Earlier this year, two area women went for a drive that changed their lives.
Ruby Keeling and her daughter, Kathy Williams, were out for a drive in February when their vehicle was involved in a wreck on U.S. 54 in northern Callaway County. As a result, Keeling lost her leg and both women have been unable to return to work.
Keeling has been in and out of hospital care and assisted living homes and cannot return to her own residence until it has been made wheelchair-accessible. That's a project her family and friends in Auxvasse hope to help out with a poker run.
The fundraiser will begin with the first bike, car or other vehicle out at 10 a.m. Oct. 5 at the Auxvasse Bar and Grill. The last drivers are due in by 5 p.m., when the bar will serve a $10-a-plate pulled pork buffet and host a silent auction. Proceeds will help Keeling build a ramp, widen doors and make bathroom modifications to her home.
"They don't have a lot of money to do a lot of the stuff they need to get done and it's going to be a long road because they haven't been able to work," said J.W. Williams, Kathy's husband and poker run organizer. "There's a lot of stuff to get done to get Ruby to be able to come home from the nursing home. With today's society, not everybody has a lot of money or is able to afford to lose that paycheck."