The lack of affordable healthcare rears its head quite often.

What can someone do when the medical attention is imperative to saving a life and there is no insurance to help absorb the cost?

Friends put their heads together and launch an idea.

Kirk "Lurch" Lee has some good friends in Pahrump who are making an effort to help with the medical bills he cannot afford.

Poker runs are launched as benefit fundraisers for all kinds of causes, be it a nonprofit donation, an accident victim, a fire which left a family destitute -- this list can be endless.

The poker run to be held Sept. 7 was launched by his friends to help with medical bills.

Lee has no insurance, as is the case with many Americans, but immediate medical care was required when he suffered a mild heart attack and a stroke on top of it.

He spent 12 days in the Intensive Care Unit at Spring Valley Hospital in Las Vegas.

Now that he is back home, the medical bills are coming and he still requires more medical attention.

This run is not without benefit to participants as well. There will be a cash prize of $300 for the high hand and $100 cash prize for the low hand. Tickets also buy a meal at the Pahrump Nugget when the event ends.

The first stop is Charlie's Place (Our Bar) for breakfast burritos and registration. Food will be available from 8 to 9 a.m., and the cost of a burrito is $3.

Cards will be drawn at Town Hall on Mesquite Avenue; StageStop Lounge and Casino on Blagg Road; Valley Bar on Gamebird Road; Saddle West on Highway 160 and Arnie's Lounge on Postal Road.

The final stop is the Pahrump Nugget for a meal and the drawing.

Those without poker run tickets can purchase a meal for $10.

All playing cards must be turned in at the Nugget by 5:30 p.m. The drawing is at 6 p.m.

Tickets are available at Valley Bar, Arnie's Lounge and Town Hall. The cost is $25 per person and any type of vehicle is welcome.

Contact Wendy, 702-481-6646 or 910-9958, for more information.