Children’s Charity Classic Connects the Community through Horses, Giving and Family Fun

The United Way of Marion County's Children's Charity Classic presented by HCA Florida Healthcare at HITS Post Time Farm showcased the area's deep ties to the equestrian community, while providing much needed support to area charities that provide critical services.

MORRISTON, FL (352today.com) – The United Way of Marion County‘s Second Children’s Charity Classic presented by HCA Florida Healthcare on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, delivered an evening of fun and giving back to the community, with the HITS Post Time Farm serving as the site of the event.

The evening’s festivities featured an equestrian competition; this year’s fun theme was “board games,” and found riders and horses decked out to represent such iconic childhood games as Clue, Monopoly, and Twister. One could almost hear the cry, “you sunk my battleship!” as the Battleship-themed team took top honors, raising $30,000 for their charity, Kimberly Center.

“We are so grateful to United Way of Marion County for bringing this cool event to the area, there’s nothing like it,” said Dawn Westgate, Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection executive director. “We’re grateful as Kimberly Center to get to be a part of it. As a children’s charity, when you work with abused and neglected children it can be hard to get out there and talk about your mission and share it, and to raise funds. Creative opportunities like this are so important to helping us sustain operations and help kids heal, and to be able to do it with the horse community, that sometimes we don’t get out to experience, it’s just a whole other level to be able to be out here, and to meet these riders, and see their tremendous talent, and for them to give that back to us, is so cool.”

The event itself plays a pivotal role in helping families facing a variety of challenges. Many are income strained, and the Classic provided the opportunity for the community to give back through their altruism to 10 charities that can continue to offer those critical services that are making a difference in the lives of others.

“We were looking at some local community data, and 52 percent of our families are either in poverty or are living in what we call an ALICE household–Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed,” said Bob Haight, United Way of Marion County president and chief executive officer. “They are the folks that need our help and services. They’re the people that we work with every day. They’re in every occupation in our community. These charities that are here tonight, are here to help those families succeed and thrive. It’s a great way to bring the equine community, the business community and our philanthropic community together for one night and celebrate our community.”

A strong turnout, buoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, had those in attendance rooting for their favorite teams, understanding the importance of the evening.

“It’s the second annual event for the Children’s Charity Classic, I think we’ve raised $20,000 more than last year, probably over $120,000,” said Alan Keesee, HCA Florida Ocala Hospital chief executive officer. “We have a lot of fun, I’m excited to see the riders come out. This year, we did the board game theme. My personal favorite is Hungry Hungry Hippos, hopefully they’ll win, but it’s going to be a great night.”

The participants in the competition, enjoyed themselves as much as the spectators, performing at an exceptional level for an appreciative crowd.

“We had to pull our team together at the last minute,” said Dorrie Douglas, professional rider, who was part of Team Twister, which finished second in the competition. “I called up Lilly Geitner, we’re really good friends with Daniel (Geitner, the United States Equestrian Federation’s National Equestrian of the Year, and Lilly’s father). His daughter stepped in, and then we had the family from Mississippi come in and train with us this week and Christine (Moody) came in and did the class. We had a ball.”