April 12, 2026
By Rachel Scofield

The Pickerington Senior Center is inviting the community to don their finest hats and celebrate for a cause at its second annual Derby Day Fundraiser, set for May 2 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the center, 150 Hereford Drive.

Open to guests 21 and older, the Pickerington Derby Day Party promises an afternoon of food, fun and fundraising, all while watching the Kentucky Derby live. Tickets are $25 per person and include one meal ticket, one drink ticket, five raffle tickets and one-horse race ticket.

The event will feature multiple food trucks lined up in the parking lot, while Combustion Brewery & Taproom will be on site selling alcoholic beverages. Large tents will be set up outdoors for dining, with games and activities throughout the event and the race televised inside.

Guests are encouraged to embrace the spirit of the Kentucky Derby by dressing the part. A $500 prize will be awarded for the best hat, adding a festive flair to the celebration.

Raffles and games will offer a wide variety of prizes, including a $2,000 vacation voucher, televisions, gift cards and more. The popular horse race raffle will award $1,000 for first place (win), $500 for second place (place) and $250 for third place (show). Organizers expect to feature around 100 raffle prizes donated by local businesses, with an estimated 1,500 guests attending.

“This is a good transition from winter to summer,” said director Craig Marcum of the Pickerington Senior Center.

Parking for the event will be available at Pickerington High School Central, 300 Opportunity Way, with shuttle service provided by Link Fairfield County Transit.

Beyond the festivities, the fundraiser supports a critical need. The Pickerington Senior Center is on pace to serve more than 10,000 meals to local seniors in 2026, but those meals are currently prepared using commercial kitchen equipment installed around 1980. The goal of the Derby Day event is to raise a portion of the $30,000 needed to upgrade the outdated kitchen and continue meeting the needs of the community.

Since Marcum became director a little over a year ago, updates such as brighter paint, more open spaces and expanded programming — including games, crafts and a weekly poker group — have helped membership more than double from 536 to 1,105 as of mid March.

Board of Trustees President Bill Cook credits much of that growth to the Meals on Wheels program. When Marcum arrived, the commercial kitchen was used only occasionally for special events. Today, it operates Monday through Friday to serve seniors 60 and older who are registered for the program.

The center has also transformed its former library into a café-style space where members can gather. Breakfast is served from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with menus planned in advance and shared in the center’s newsletter and onsite café.

For free, diners scan their badges at a kiosk and enjoy meals such as chicken Parmesan, pork tenderloin with home fries, or biscuits and gravy. The food is prepared and served by small businesses in exchange for use of the kitchen. Currently, three businesses participate, with room for a fourth.

Tickets for the Derby Day Fundraiser are available online.