The Fresno chapter of the SCCA® San Francisco Region is no stranger to raising money for a good cause, and recently, that came in the form of a police chase at an autocross that resulted in a $3,000 donation to charity.

The most recent fundraising event for this SCCA Region came during the first weekend in February, where it held a charity autocross that involved pitting the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, the Fresno Police Department, and CHP Hanford against each other on the autocross course at Fresno Fairgrounds. Autocrossers got to witness the competition, as well as see how their autocross cars stacked up against the times turned by police patrol cars.

Come the end of the day, Fresno County Sheriff's Office finished with the fastest time and earned $1,500, Fresno Police Department finished second and earned $1,000, and CHP Hanford finished third and was awarded $500. The police departments then donated the funds to charities of their choice.

The event even drew the attention of the local news.

“This was an overwhelmingly successful event and all of the law enforcement agencies and our membership want to do this same event next year,” explains San Francisco Region Fresno chapter member Audrey Tan. “The County of Fresno, which oversees the Sheriff's Office, sent out their media person and he made a great promo video from the event.”

That video is worth a watch:

This is far from the first time San Francisco Region chapters (which consist of Fresno, Sacramento, and San Francisco) have raised money for a worthy cause. In fact, it’s turning into a habit.

“This is not the first charity event we have done,” Tan notes. “In 2020 during COVID, the Fresno chapter raised $4,000 for our community food bank in a charity autocross. In 2021, Fresno upped our game and raised $6,000 for the food bank. Then last year, the Sacramento chapter raised money for their local Shriner's Hospital.”

Fresno chapter also raises money for its own members.

“Last year, we started the Forza 44 Scholarship Fund to honor one of our founding members, Chet Hansen, when he passed away,” Tan says. “The scholarship helps to send one of our chapter members to [the Tire Rack SCCA Solo® National Championships]. We held a fundraising night autocross event and awarded a $1,500 scholarship in 2024. We will do the fundraising night event again this year in June and we are hoping to raise enough money to possibly send two of our members to Nationals this year.”

This comradery, spirit, and willingness to raise money for charities and others is what the SCCA is all about.

Photo by Joshua Dean