About
Cruisin for Hope has been created by and produced by a group of friends, family, and community leaders who decided to make the difference in the life of a young people fighting illness.
Sergeant Damon Coates is the newest member to our Cruisin for Hope Team.
The words miracle, gentle, talented, professional, and hero only go so far to describe the man who is the Director of Public Relations for CFH as of July 14, 2008.
He retired as a 16-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and served as the public information officer for five years and was one of the most well-known and respected PIO’s ever, by local media. He returned to street patrol after being promoted from deputy to sergeant in 2000. Damon also headed the firearms unit for Clackamas County and was considered to be a skilled marksman. “He was my mentor,” said Detective Jim Stovink. “He is also an exceptional father.”
In January of 2003, Damon responded to life changing call – one where he was shot in the face by a mentally unstable and distressed teenager named Nick. After 5 ½ years of recovery and ongoing rehabilitation, Damon is ready to give back to the community and to those that are challenged in thanks for all the care, love, and outpouring of support he and his family have received and continue to be blessed with. He has also visited Nick in the State Mental Hospital with a 25 years to life sentence to forgive him for what he did to Damon and his family’s life – which goes miles to show you what kind of honor and courage he has.
Damon, and his lovely wife Tammy have four children, two boys and two girls. His oldest son is now following in his father’s footsteps in law enforcement. Damon has a lion heart and a passion for helping others, and an incredible respect within the media. He looks forward to making a difference with not only us, but with the many people we will honor and serve along the way.
Mark Weidkamp, Cindy Kauffman and son Nico Kauffman , with Robert Purvis, are the founders of the effort and cause, and serve with integral roles in the concept development, marketing, organization, and whatever comes next!
Mark founded Cruisin for Hope in 1998 with a first event planned for the Oregon Coast. Flash forward to June of 2009 for the latest and Current upcoming event of the CFH group - Mark recently underwent successful surgery for a brain tumor removal – radiation and chemotherapy are also helping to eradicate his brain cancer as he plans ahead for coming events.
With the help of Cindy and Nico and team, a very successful event was held in Milwaukie to raise money for a young man with bone cancer, Jacob VanVoorhies, a patient at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. The next event to help a family of 5 in Milwaukie with two of three children facing life threatening issues will be June 13-14 in Milwaukie. Several other events follow throughout the year.
Cindy is a 23 year veteran in the customer service business with Comcast, and Mark is a sales and marketing executive with Serbaco, a local air pollution design and control firm. Nico, on the support team and Chief Photographer graduated in June from Milwaukie High School along with his friend Jacob to pursue interests in photography and anything to do with cars!
And finally, we could never be successful with the benefit of many volunteers and sponsors that have generously chosen to be a part of the incredible event!
Thank you!
