Clark’s Derby Day Event Raises $2.7M for Charity

Clark Associates held its 14th annual Derby Day fundraiser in May and raised more than $2.7 million for charity. The amount marks a 12% increase over 2025.

This year’s event took place at The Lancaster Country Club and featured a weekend full of activities. All proceeds go to the Clark Associates Charitable Foundation and are distributed to a variety of local charities and educational foundations.

The fundraiser began in 2013 for the Conestoga Valley Education Foundation and was led by Beth Clark, wife of company founder and chairman Fred Clark. Today, with the help of an employee-led Derby Day Committee, revenues have grown from a first-year total of $25,000 to this year’s grand total of $2.7 million. More than 300 tickets were sold for the 2026 event.

This year’s event benefited 30 recipients, with individual check sizes for each charity ranging from $25,000 to $300,000. Derby Day proceeds benefit organizations that serve individuals with disabilities, provide youth education, preserve the environment, support at-risk youth, run programs for homeless populations, fight food insecurity, uplift local volunteers and aid war refugees.

“Though it’s almost become expected that Derby Day weekend will grow in its capacity to help high-value nonprofits each year, it’s hard not to be astonished when listening to CEO Gene Clark read the list of recipients and their donations at Saturday’s main event,” says Mike Thornton, Clark Associates Charitable Foundation executive director, in a May 7 release.