Cross-country event to find missing youth will start in Henderson

By Erin Dostal

Thursday, June 17, 2010 | 12:21 p.m.

It reads like a movie trailer: This fall, 75 teams of drivers will complete a 3,500-mile race across the country. The goal? To recover America’s missing kids.

Henderson will be the starting point for the 2010 Fireball Run, a nine-day event in which teams of two to four drivers complete scavenger hunts and activities in eight cities across the country. This year’s ending point is Galena, Ill., near the Mississippi River.

Each team, which must include either one business owner or a corporate-level businessperson, sponsors a missing child from their region, canvassing the country with the child’s picture in an effort to find him or her. Since the group started in 2007, more than 30 kids have been found as a result.

In addition to serving their search mission, the run offers opportunities for business owners to network and mingle in participating cities, said Fireball Run Founder JJ Sanchez. This year’s route includes Gallup, N.M.; Lubbock, Texas; and Chesterfield, Mo.

Sanchez said the event also creates opportunities for business growth in participating cities. If business owners and corporate leaders have a good experience in a city, they’ll be more likely to invest there in the future.

“These business leaders are coming all over the place, and they’re not stopping in Las Vegas,” he said. “They’re stopping in a place they might not have heard of before: Henderson. They’re going to come out with a different idea of Henderson … now’s the time to get started in business.”

The entry fee for a team is $8,000, which includes hotel stays, he said.

Henderson officials, including Mayor Andy Hafen and Chamber of Commerce President Alice J. Martz, spoke at a press conference Thursday to discuss the race. Hafen and Martz said they hope that having so many business people descending upon the city will help attract development in the future.

Martz said the group plans to hold a mixer at Loews Lake Las Vegas to help drivers get to know each other before they leave Henderson for Illinois.

No teams from Henderson have signed up for the race yet, but that’s something Martz hopes will change before the event begins on Sept. 25.

“I’m trying to talk the mayor into getting into the race,” Martz said. The mayor grinned.

Hafen said he was excited to bring the Fireball Run to Henderson and hoped business leaders who participated would enjoy their stay in the city.

“Henderson residents and the business community are committed to supporting this worthwhile cause,” he said. “Henderson is open for business.”