On Saturday April 27, 2008 the family and friends of Jacob Yeates held a Fundraising benefit car show and drag race at Ozark International Raceway. Bumper to Bumper sponsored the event with so many others donating they are to numerous to mention here. All proceeds from the event go to the Jacob Yeates Foundation.
After a prayer the races were started by a solo run down the track by Jacob’s father Steve. There were many friends that raced in classes set up for high school. There were many classes to run your car in and one of Jacob’s closest friends Ethan Horn won his class and then won the Top Eliminator Overall of all classes.
The SUPER COBRA JET FUNNY CAR owned by Gary and Harriet Fore came to wow the crowd. Along with TYDO Mark and his wheelie wagon, George 'The Bushmaster' Schreiber from Bushmasters Rockin' Race Place, Strafford, Mo brought three cars from his museum. I spoke with some of the visitors and they had never seen a car that has parachutes to slow it down, or have motors so big and loud you need ear plugs.
The purpose of the Jacob Yeates Foundation is to provide grant money to school districts so that they can help children in their district with school related financial needs. It has a fund set up at the Ava School District. This school district has been able to help children with shoes, glasses, field trip fees, school pictures, coats, club dues, a yearbook, and many other items that a child needs but many times cannot have or participate in because of financial limits. The Jacob Yeates Foundation would like to set up a fund at as many school districts as it can in the Ozarks and beyond.
Jacob Yeates was killed in a car accident 11-25-2006. He was 17 years old. He loved to help others with a friendly smile and a helping hand. After his accident, we found that he had been helping many of his class mates with needs that they had. The Foundation was set up to continue his spirit of giving and showing someone that they were loved and someone cared about them.
Jacob’s car was a 1972 Nova. It had a faded red paint job with an old black vinyl top. He had a few small dents in the fenders. He spent most of his time working on the suspension and engine. Jacob’s Nova was sitting in the garage. As a family we decided, along with the encouragement from Jake’s friends, to do the changes that Jacob wanted to his Nova to get it ready for the track. We slowly got the parts and started working on it. This was very difficult for Steve to do. Each time he started to work on the car it was very difficult emotionally.
We will be using Jacob’s car to promote the race and to raise money for the Jacob Yeates Foundation. Please visit this website to and see the list of other sponsors and donations for the event and the details about the race and the foundation www.4Jake.org
If you want to see more pictures of Jake or leave a note at his memorial web site, it is at jacob-yeates.virtual-memorials.com
Photos from the event can be seen at this website www.kophotosite.com
The event turned out an unexpected number of people. The event raised almost 8,000 dollars and will help a lot of students, this is an ongoing project and donations will be accepted at all times to try and help students in other communities as well. Jacob’s parents Steve and Cheri Bowden would like to thank each and everyone who helped with the event down to everyone who came to watch or race in honor of Jacobs’s memory.
Steve or Cheri Bowden can be reached at (417) 683-9557 email: letsRace4Jake@aol.com
Jacob Yeates Foundation
RR3 Box 184
Ava, Mo 65608
(417) 683-9557
Article and Photos by Wanda Ousley
Cheri Bowden says ...
on Monday, Apr 28 at 2:32 PM
Thank you all for coming to the race. We had just over 600 people at the track Saturday with 106 race entries. It was alot of fun for all. We are looking forward to next year's race! Thank you all for your generous support!