Annual Memorial Turtle Run Fund Raiser Joins Ranks of Local Community Service Organizations

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_{By Pauline Masson} – By dispensing the funds of the second biker poker run in memory of the late Danny “Turtle” Johnson, the annual Turtle Run joins the ranks of local community service groups, such as Pacific Eagles, Pacific Agape House, Pacific Area Chamber of Commerce and the Safety Net for Homeless Students, with the specific mission to help fund local groups and organizations that serve citizens.

Members of the Turtle Run team gathered at the Tri County Senior Center June 22 to present two checks – $11,393 to the Senior Center and $1,263 to the American Heart Association – as proceeds from the second annual Turtle Run which took place June 4.

Immediately following the death of the late Danny “Turtle” Johnson, of an unexpected heart attack on July 15, 2018, a group of friends and family formed a community service organization to honor his memory by helping others.

Following Johnson’s love of motorcycling and the outdoors, the group organized an annual bikers’ poker run, dubbed the Turtle Run.

The Turtle Run Team selected the Historic First Baptist Church of Pacific, which Johnson had helped to serve throughout his adult life as the first organization to receive the memorial funds. Due to COVID, the second annual Turtle Run in 2021 run was postponed.

At the request of Johnson’s daughter Mercedes Means, ten percent of each year’s proceeds will be donated to the American Heart Association in her father’s memory because of his untimely death of a heart attach, at age 52.

At the conclusion of the first Turtle Run, the team identified the Tri County Senior Center as the second recipient of the funds.

“We chose the senior center as the second recipient of the memorial funds because of number of people and groups it helps in the community,” said Norbert Gildehaus, Turtle Run team chair. “This is what Turtle was about. He loved helping others.”

The senior center provides weekday noon meals for area seniors and others, hosts GED classes, funeral repasts and offers meeting space to area youth groups and service organizations.

“Turtle would love this help for the senior center,” his sister Brenda Perkins said. “He’s up there smiling down on us right now.”

The Turtle Run team will meet in the coming weeks to determine the recipient of the 2023 Turtle Run.

Pacific Eagles Aerie 3842 and its community fed Friday Night Bingo is hands down the pre-eminent community service organization for the Pacific / Meramec Valley area. In addition to its national and international Eagles charities, The Pacific Eagles have provided funds for youth, senior, civic, and church groups that assist the community for more than three decades.

The Pacific Agape House is the lynchpin of community service organizations providing food and financial assistance to area families in need.

Pacific Area Chamber of Commerce. For more than 20 years, the Chamber has held a annual community wide gala and split the proceeds with an area organization to help complete an array of projects that benefit the community.

The Safety Net Program raises funds to assist homeless students and their families, with funds dispensed by the MVR-III School District. There are currently 143 area students whose families are displaced from their traditional homes due to flooding, COVID and economic downturn.