If you’re driving on Diamond Avenue early — very early — Saturday morning, you might notice a group of people along the side of the road rolling a massive tractor tire. But don’t be alarmed, they are rolling for a purpose.
Evansville resident DeAndre Wilson began Keep Rolling in 2019 after his father Curtis died from liver cancer. The campaign raises money, awareness, and support for cancer causes in the community by Wilson and volunteers rolling a tractor tire through the city.
Wilson, along with eight participants, will start a long trek into Posey County at 2 a.m. Saturday, rolling a nearly six-foot, 230-pound tire from the corner of St. Joseph and Diamond avenues all the way to Black Lodge Coffee Roasters in New Harmony, Indiana. The journey is 24 miles and will take about eight hours to complete.
“As I’ve been rolling it these past few months, I’ve been working on taking less stops and preparing for what it would be if I had to do it all by myself,” says Wilson. “But overall, I’ve been practicing since 2019.”
Wilson aims to raise $5,000 in what will be his longest roll yet. Each year, Keep Rolling selects four or five Evansville-area nonprofits with whom to share its fundraiser proceeds; each nonprofit receives funds raised in a month dedicated to each group.
Funds raised this Saturday will go to the campaign’s 2022 list of nonprofit recipients: Young & Established (March 2022), Big Brothers Big Sisters (May 2022), the Evansville African American Museum (July 2022), and Lyles Station Historic School & Museum in Gibson County, Indiana (September 2022).
Donations are accepted through Wilson’s campaign website at keeprollingcampaign.com or on Venmo at deandre-wilson-25.
“People can come out with their bikes … they can run, they can jog, they can walk,” Wilson says. He also encourages supporters to follow his journey on Instagram @keeprollingcampaign and on Facebook @deandretirerolling.
Roll With It
keeprollingcampaign.com
