Free07 is organizing a Pinewood Derby racing event and the proceeds will go to Tristan Smith who will then use the money to give to local nonprofit organizations.

The event will take place at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. March 11 and will have different types of competitions. Free07 is a neighborhood watch type program. Member Lindsay Kallgren says last year they did a silent auction to raise funds for a member of their group and wanted to extend that further.

“We talked about doing some other fun stuff,” Kallgren said after the success of the silent auction. “And why not a derby? Let’s throw this out to the community and have everybody involved.”

She says it won’t be exactly like the Boy Scouts, but there will be the five-ounce cars for youth 0-15. Then there will also be an adult class which is anyone age 16 and up.

“Then we thought why not have a fun class?” Kallgren said. “We’re going to have a modification class. I want to see how creative people are.”

She says they do need to be respectful of the track and so anything goes as long as it does not create a mess.

Smith is a survivor of a plane crash, but the accident took his eyesight. He says at that time they were in the process of selling their home and building a new one. He says his friends ran fundraisers for him and his family to help out to get through the hard time and the whole community helped as well. He wanted to help give back to area.

“So, this is my opportunity to help Free07,” Smith said. “And through this Pinewood Derby give back to the community.”

He says they have been “so blessed” to have what they do, and they don’t need the funds from the Derby fundraiser, so the money raised will go to other organizations. This will include places like the Food Bank, Fire Department and Search and Rescue.

“These big groups that helped me personally that were instrumental in basically saving my life,” Smith said. “I would love to have the opportunity to give back to the community that has been so generous to us.”

Kallgren says they will have Jack’Stand there for food and cotton candy will be available as well for the Derby event. She says you can show up to the event with the car, but there will be a check in. This means every car will be weighed.

You can also scan the QR code or contact a Free07 member to pre-register. There is a perk to registering early though as when you check in at the day of the event you will get two raffle tickets. If you register same day, then you only will get one.