After a great weekend of fun with your closest buddies using your 4×4 on some of the best trails in Oklahoma, you head home feeling good about helping a good cause. But what was that cause? Who gets your contributions and funds after this weekend of wheeling? If you were attending the annual Crawl 4 Christ event, the answer is UCORA, United Christian Off-Road Alliance.
UCORA is a 501c3 ministry which uses your donations and contributions to benefit various local ministries and projects around the country. With your participation in our event, Crawl 4 Christ, you are helping put toys in the hands of kids through Toys 4 Tots; you are putting outdoor exercise equipment at a shelter for abused families; and you are helping the families of fallen police officers recover and find normal again after their terrible loss. These are just some of the outreach ministries we help with every year.
It all started in 2005 when United Christian Off-Road Alliance was born from an idea of just a few off-road enthusiasts who all had common experiences, they loved the trail ride events, but hated the night-life activities of many large scale events. They wanted to see their families have a safe environment where they could not only hit the trails and have a great day, but have a relaxed time around the campfire afterwards without the worry about what might happen after dark. It started with a desire for fellowship and a place to let people who all wanted a similar experience to connect with other families. In 2007, our group of believers wanted to finally meet in person. We planned a gathering of our own, a jamboree of sorts, where we could meet, wheel, and enjoy a weekend with all of our families; but our gathering needed a name. This was the birth of the Crawl 4 Christ and our first event would be held in 2008.
While the story of Crawl 4 Christ is another great one to tell, that will have to wait for another time. While United Christian Off-Road Alliance members enjoyed our small gathering together, we wanted to do more. We met annually as well as discussed, mostly online, what else we could do. Praying for each other, giving advice and support, and even reaching out when someone had a need. Our now annual gathering was gaining popularity and we also felt God’s hand leading us to use this event to have an impact. Every year, there was a little “nest egg” of funds which we rolled into keeping costs lower for the following year, but we would also use some of those funds to reach a small ministry need someone had brought to us. Every year, this impact grew.
In 2015, UCORA was now starting to see more than ever, that our dream was to unite clubs around the country which had similar goals, and to assist them in their local ministry outreach. So UCORA was first incorporated as an LLC. Officially incorporated in AZ and later in Missouri, membership was represented across the states from California and Arizona, and even across the Atlantic ocean. We went from the shores of the Great Lakes, south to the Gulf of Mexico and everywhere in between. In 2017, we had enough funds after the Crawl 4 Christ we knew we were going to use some of our great partnerships in industry and bless many ministries around the country. We also used those funds to apply for a federal non-profit status. In September of 2017, UCORA was approved as a 501c3, not-for-profit public charity by the Internal Revenue Service.
If you want to know more about UCORA or how you can get involved, connect with us on the web at www.ucora.org or via Facebook at www.facebook.com/UcoraTheUnitedChristianOffRoadAlliance/ and see all the happenings. We have already scheduled the next Crawl 4 Christ and we always welcome donations to the ministry outreach. UCORA is “staffed” by all volunteers in order to keep our maximum impact to further the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and we would love to get you involved.