Photos: Jeff Saturday's Fundraiser to Benefit Burn-Victim Kids

If you were looking for professional athletes Monday night, Pinheads in Fishers was the place to be. A svelte Jeff Saturday and his equally svelte wife, Karen, welcomed fans and a contingent of pro athletes Monday to their inaugural bowling fundraiser in support of the couple’s camp for young burn victims.

Attendees included Colts’ Matt Overton and Vontae Davis; former Colts players Mike McGlynn, Gary Brackett, Jeff George, Ryan Diem, and Jim Sorgi; and IndyCar Series drivers Ed Carpenter (who attended with his children and wife, Heather) and Simona De Silvestro. Lucas Oil’s Forrest and Charlotte Lucas attended, as did reality-television star Rupert Boneham.

The event, called Super Bowl for Saturday’s Kids, benefited Camp Saturday, an initiative with The People’s Burn Foundation. The camp, for children who suffer from burns, will be held again in June at Flat Rock River YMCA Camp, St. Paul, Ind.

“They are just normal kids for a week. Everybody looks like them,” says Saturday. He and his wife are especially sensitive to burn trauma because their youngest son, Joshua, now 7, fell into a fireplace when he was a toddler. “So my wife and I were like, ‘Listen, we’re as fortunate as it gets and it has been very difficult for us.’ I can’t imagine working two jobs or being a single parent and trying to do it.” Karen’s family was affected by an apartment fire when she was young, and the couple’s house in Carmel once caught fire, too. “God gives you reasons to be involved with things,” Saturday says, “and we felt connected to this.”

The former Colts center-turned-ESPN NFL analyst spent most of his time at the fundraiser shaking hands and signing autographs. When he did get around to bowling, he rolled a strike. 

» BONUS: See our full photo gallery of the event.

Photos by Tony Valainis