The Kansas City Region Sports Car Club of America members have latched on to Variety KC GoBabyGo’s mission of helping children with disabilities gain mobility through modified toy ride-on cars. The KCRSCCA raised a total of $8,354 from 3 events for the 2016 season. The 2016 Solo Halloweenie Charity Event raised $5,400 in net profits, the 2016 Halloweenie silent auction raised $1,454 in donations, and 2016 Awards Banquet silent auction raised $1,500.
Kendra Gagnon, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Therapy Education at Rockhurst University, started the GoBabyGo KC program and advised, “In less than two years, Variety KC GoBabyGo has modified nearly 100 cars for children in the Kansas City community, and has provided workshops and instructions for dozens of therapists, engineers, and families throughout the region to start their own GoBabyGo programs. The program is run by volunteers and 100% of the program’s funding comes from donations. Donations from local organizations are critical to keeping this program going. Every dollar goes straight to our program, helping Kansas City kids be active, be social, and belong!”
The $1,500 from the Awards Banquet will be used to fund a KCRSCCA build day, where we will purchase the supplies needed and get together to build the cars for local children. The Board understands that free weekends during race season are precious and usually already have plans with friends and family. Therefore, we will be hosting the build day at the Party at the Park event at Heartland Park Topeka August 4-6. Details for the build day are still being worked on and will be released once they are finalized.
Al Hermans, KCRSCCA 2016 Solo Chair, was happy to see us incorporate a build day, “Once again, we at KCRSCCA are happy to provide support to GoBabyGo in the form of proceeds from our annual charity event. Thanks to record turn out and the generosity of our members and guests, we are able to help this fine organization continue its mission to deliver an alternate means of mobility for their clients. As a car nut, the car based form [of mobility] is a real plus. Having observed a build session last year, one can see the passion and commitment of the people involved. I am proud to have even a small part in keeping this program going.”
Jeremy Salenius, KCRSCCA 2017 Solo Chair and Dare2Dream Motorsports founder, presented GoBabyGo as a local charity for the 2015 Halloweenie Charity Event. He was passionate about the program due to their focus on helping children with disabilities, which is a mission of the Dare2Dream Team. Jeremy said, “As one of the members who helped KCRSCCA get involved with GoBabyGo KC last year, it is a joy to see us be able to give more this year from our annual charity event! The 193 drivers who came out to the Halloweenie event took 800+ runs in under 8 hours. This record attendance allowed us to give over $1,400 more than we did last year! All the entrants of the event were excited about GoBabyGo being our charity again because of the connection between the car guys and gals and the mobility devices being cars. We look forward to working with them again in the future!”
While the car connection is a large part of what makes the KCRSCCA and Variety KC GoBabyGo a perfect match, the main reason for the KCRSCCA members identifying with GoBabyGo is simply to help local children. Thank you to everyone who came out to drive for the charity event, donated items to the silent auctions, donated money through the silent auction bids or through a stand-alone donation. We would not be able to contribute to the Variety KC GoBabyGo program without all of your help.
Learn more about GoBabyGo! KC powered by Rockhurst University on their website, https://ww2.rockhurst.edu/gobabygo, and through their Facebook Page.