Car club cruises for a cause

The Country Classic Car Club continues to raise money and awareness of the need for affordable medical transportation in Steinbach. 

Members are preparing for a 350km drive on Saturday by collecting pledges which will go toward the Medical Transportation Program through the Pat Porter Active Living Centre. 

“We just want to be visible in the community with our Classic Car Club and do some good,” says Club executive member Sandi Kihn. 

The club has already done “some good” with raising funds at the car show during Summer in the City back in June. 

Their donation of $1,100 has helped to pay for 14 medical trips this summer. 

Kihn says they do not have a goal as to how much they hope to raise this weekend, noting that every donation helps make sure people can get to their medical appointments, especially for people who can’t pay for the transportation to health care centres outside the community. 

Club members are collecting pledges all week in support of this program and Kihn encourages people to also visit the Pat Porter Active Living Centre (PPALC) to make a donation. 

“I think every little bit helps,” she says. 

Club Vice-President Gary Reimer is looking forward to spending hours on the road this Saturday with fellow classic car drivers. 

“I'm looking forward to a long ride,” he says. “As for donating and helping out, (club members) are pretty excited about that. We all think that's a fantastic idea.” 

Reimer says Cruising for a Cause is very similar to regular car rides, but with more meaning. 

“In this case, we're driving, and people look at our cars and help us with this fundraiser and I think that it's a really good thing and I think all our members are really feeling pretty good about the donation part.” 

With this being a longer drive, the group will be making a few stops at gas stations and restaurants. Reimer says it’s always great to see how much attention they get from people they see. 

“There's lots of people who will walk around all the cars and look at them, big smiles and we're all smiling. We're all happy and it's fun, it's a lot of fun.” 

He says club members enjoy being part of the community and sharing their passion with others. This event allows them to do all that while raising money for a cause they believe in, making sure people can get to their medical appointments. 

Reimer invites the public to join them in raising money for the medical transportation program and to meet up with club members on Saturday to check out the cars. 

“We're going to be back at the Pat Porter Center at around 4 to 4:30 and if you want to come out and see the cars, that parking lot will be full of nice, shiny, pretty cars. Come out and enjoy them and maybe give us a donation and have some fun.”

In August, members of the Country Classic Car Club brought some of their vehicles to the parking lot at Resthaven to share their hobbies with seniors. Club Vice-President Gary Reimer says it was a lot of fun. "The people at Resthaven all had smiles on their faces. They really appreciated it. We will continue doing that and doing all these things we're trying to get done throughout the community. It's also a good thing for us because we get to be recognized as a community, and not 'guys who have cars that are very fast and very loud.' We're just nice, ordinary people who like sharing." (Photo Credit: Facebook.com/CountryClassics12)

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