Ruben on the Road: Canadian River Beach Club raises money for Perryton Relief Fund

PERRYTON, Texas (KFDA) - Ruben hits the road to Perryton where he meets up with a group from Canadian that is giving back to their Perryton neighbors.

Chris Samples, owner of 98.3 KXDJ Radio, says the Canadian River Beach Club has been doing their fundraisers for years. The club’s event has been ongoing for a long time, and he says they raise a lot of money and give back to the community of Canadian.

“We know a lot of those folks and they’re friends of ours, and we just started thinking together, you know, is there something that we could do maybe to benefit the tornado relief fund and the victims and just come together,” said Samples.

Samples says they helped with the promo side and the club handled so much labor and gathering sponsors. The club were the boots on the ground and Samples says together, they all pulled off a successful fundraising event.

Amanda Cowan, vice president of Ochiltree Co. United Way, says Ochiltree United Way has been established in the area for a little over 50 years.

“And so when we heard the effects of what happened on June 15, we knew that we wanted to help immediately,” said Cowan.

When organizations were looking for a place to donate to, Cowan says she encouraged them to donate to United Way because they knew they would be 100% transparent and all the funds would go to the community.

“Our first phase, we were able to give a little over $600,000 to individuals and businesses. Phase two, we are looking at unmet needs for those community members that are needing to be dried in, maybe roof repaired, getting winterized,” said Cowan.

The donation will really go a long way in helping rebuild that.

“We’re community members, we’re small town Panhandle folks. We share the same values, and it’s not at all surprising that you got a neighboring community that wants to love on you and help you when you’re in need. And that’s what they did,” said Samples.

“So I encourage everyone, and there’s nothing that is too small. When it helps an organization, little things can go a long way and you could be helping a very big, broad group of people in our community and not know it,” said Cowan.

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