I’ve tried for over two weeks to get logos and photos for this article, about the Race Track Chaplaincy’s annual basketball game.
My efforts have resulted in nothing at all: no photos, no logos, sent from the uber-efficient assistant in the office of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, New York Division.
That’s because, while RTCANY has people who stop in, people who help out a lot–there is no such humanly critter as an uber-efficient Assistant, who works full-time, 40-hours-a-week.
No Office Manager or Marketing Director, whose job it is to respond to the silly questions of writers. Even writers with good intentions don’t have the juice to acquire a digital copy of the RTCANY’s logo–but that’s OK.
Speaking from personal experience, I’ve emailed, asked in-person, handed my card over to the Chaplain (whose known me for many years)–and still, no pictures or logos to draw your eye to this article. (I guess I’m on my own: thank God for NYRA, and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.)
The reason for this lack of attention to the perceives needs of a bunch of spoiled media divas is that Chaplain Humberto Chavez and his team are entirely too busy saving lives, souls, hearts, emotions and families to deal with media inquiries, 24/7…
Chaplain Chavez and his wonderful, dedicated team of volunteers and (a couple of) employees work or are on-call 24/7–yes, that’s real–to service the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of backstretch workers at the three NYRA tracks. (Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga.) Every single day of every single year, they’re working their hearts out:
* Praying with those in need
* Getting beds, clothing, supplies for clients
* Providing or assisting with counseling–domestic, individual, couples, rehab.
* Feeding those who have no food.
* Strengthening those whose strength has been taken away.
* Holding hands, hugging beleaguered shoulders.
I know that Chaplain Chavez and his fellow superheroes are doing much more than that–but that’s a good start in my little effort to help you understand that–what RTCANY does is herculean.
Every day of every year, they change lives.
They strengthen souls.
They build up those who are knocked down.
This morning, I called Humberto (Chaplain Chavez) at 7:18AM, because I knew that–even though he’s a devoted Husband and Father to beautiful children and his extraordinary wife, Karen–he would be awake and On The Job at 7:18AM.
And he probably got to bed after midnight, because someone needed him.
It’s so, so easy to look at the gorgeous, spit-shined Thoroughbreds at any racetrack–those ethereal creatures with braided forelocks, perfectly-muscled bodies and ballerina-like way of gliding across a surface–and to assume that they just dropped onto the Earth that perfectly.
They ARE, indeed, God’s most perfect animal, but the forelocks don’t braid themselves.
But the shiny coat doesn’t just happen.
And–since horses have no thumbs–Thoroughbreds would starve to death, were it not for the many backstretch workers who are on-call. (Truly “hothouse horses,” Thoroughbreds never have lived in the wild and cannot fend for themselves. Tossed out into a forest, they’d be clueless. Yes, of course, they have the instincts of prey animals–but by the time those instincts kicked in, it could be too late. And since they’re hothouse horses, there’s no guarantee that anything they’d eat because it looks yummy–would not kill them.)
So Thoroughbreds need humans. And the humans who are the first smile and hug to greet them at 4AM comes from the same loving human being who tucks them into bed at night, and speaks softly to them as they settle in.
You love horses. You love horse racing. If you’re a fan of the Thoroughbred breed, you’re in awe of them.
But you absolutely cannot love the horse, and not the horseman/-woman.
You cannot care about the welfare of the equine, but not about those who work seven days a week to care for God’s animals.
You’re a reader, a writer, a media person, an artist, a photographer, an accountant, an attorney, a clerk in Price Chopper, a truck driver, a hedge fund manager, a nurse, a secretary, a doctor--you’re a lot of things, including a fan of horse racing.
Whoever you are, you’re reading this because you’re a fan. You have a job–a career, maybe–perhaps even a vocation–but what you probably don’t have is the experience of getting up at 4AM every morning to care for horses.
And what you don’t have is the profound sadness felt by those people (36, I believe?) who lost everything they had brought to Saratoga–in the huge fire on Woodlawn Avenue last week.
I’m not saying that you’re a shlub if you’re not a backstretch worker. I’m saying that you probably have a pretty cushy life, and are relatively happy. You may even love your job–your career.
Get this: people who work with horses love it, too, because they love the animal. They are the first people who detect a bowed tendon, a fever, a sad horse or horse who’s just out-of-sorts. They’re master diagnosticians, and they love their jobs, too.
But because their jobs don’t pay what you make as a hedge fund manager–they often need help. Sometimes they just need medical attention, or ESL lessons. Sometimes they need someone–not just someone who says that they’ll pray for them, but who will pray WITH them.
Whatever their need–the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, New York Division is there for them. And you have the chance to be with them, too.
This coming Wednesday, August 7th, you have the opportunity to be blessed beyond measure, as you help the RTCANY raise money for the many and varied facets of their ministry. They’re presenting an all-star basketball game, and check this out: it’s FREE.
The New York Horsemen’s Charity Basketball Game will take place at 7AM on Wednesday, at the Saratoga Rec Center on 15 Vanderbilt Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York.
There’s really no valid excuse for you not to be there:
* There’s no charge for admission, and
* If Johnny V can jump off Trigger after the last race, rip off the silks, dash over to the Rec Center and somehow on the way–don a basketball jersey and shorts–then YOU can make it there, too.
The event is free.
Let me emphasize this again: F-R-E-E.
No charge. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Noil. Nothing.
You’ll be entertained by such brilliant jockeys as the wonderful, up-and-coming Irad Ortiz, (I love that kid, he’s a killer.)–he wildly accomplished and talented, Joel Rosario and the aforementioned Hall of Famer, Johnny V. Mortal enemies on the oval, they’ll join forces against the Evil Empire’s best trainers and administrators: NYRA’s PJ Campo will hook up with trainers such as Todd Pletcher in their (possibly, lame?) effort to squash the hopes of the jockeys.
The game is free. The laughter and joviality is free.
If you want to purchase $10 raffle tickets, you may be the winner of one of two really sweet rewards:
* an iPad 2 of
* suite tickets to a Yankees game.
For ten bucks, how can you lose? There’s absolutely no pressure or expectation, that you’ll buy raffle tickets. You can stroll into the Rec Center–watch the game for free–chat, hang out, schmooze with racing luminaries–then split and go to the On the Run for a cuppa joe.
But if you are so moved–if the thought of those people who came up for the summer to work with the horses we love so much–if the thought of those dear souls losing everything they’d brought with them in that horrible fire last week affects you, you might consider giving some cash. You may buy a raffle ticket, or just toss some cash into the moneybox.
If the thought that Curlin didn’t become Curlin by magic–that loving hands and hearts touched him every day of his career--if that thought gives you pause–you may consider attending the basketball game and finding a way to hand over money to the good people who make it happen. To donate–one way or another–to the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, New York Division.
Even if you ARE a hedge fund manager–even one who went belly-up–you can afford to attend, and to cheer on your fave jocks, trainers and horsemen.
Chances are that you probably can afford just to drop some bills into the moneybox, simply because it’s in your pocket and it’s burning a hole there. You may have won at the track that day–can you consider giving 10% of your winnings (a tithe) to the Chaplaincy that day?
If you don’t give it to the Chaplaincy, you’re likely to buy yet-another designer purse that you don’t need.
If you’re grateful for everything that you have, including eyes to see horses; ears to hear their whinnies and a heart to really comprehend the love they give the world–if you’re grateful for those things, you might consider attending the FREE basketball game, and, while you’re there–donating to this extraordinarily worthy cause.
Gratitude is a wonderful motivator. If you’re grateful for all that God has given you, consider showing your thanks by helping this organization that does so much for so many, every single day and night of the year.
Am I trying to make you feel–perhaps even to think about all you have, and all that others may need, which you can help provide?
Bet on it.
Race Track Chaplaincy of America New York Division
New York Horsemen’s Charity Basketball Game
FREE
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
7PM
Saratoga Recreation Center
15 Vanderbilt Avenue
Saratoga Springs, New York 12866
Chaplain Humberto Chavez:
RTCANY@aol.com
http://twitter.com/ChaplainChavez
