Well, they’ve done it again. The good people at the Starlight Children’s Foundation along with some pretty cool supercar owners and lots of local volunteers raised some incredible funds for some equally amazing children and their families.
Oh, and did I mention they had a ton of fun doing it, too?
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Drive 4 Smiles
Now in its third year, the D4S (Drive 4 Smiles) program seeks to raise awareness and funds for sick children and their families. They do so by inviting ill children and their families to a local track — iCar in Mirabel in Quebec — and providing hot laps around the circuit in a myriad of luxury and exotic supercars.
When I was invited to check out the event with my son a few weeks ago, I happily accepted and we met up with the D4S crew at iCar to enjoy the festivities and smiles.
And there were a lot of smiles that day. From local food trucks offering free meals, to face-painting, cotton candy, characateur drawings, a miniature hop-on-hop-off train, and even Batman and Batwoman on site to hang out with, there was so much to see and do all day that the bevy of beautiful luxury and exotic sport cars almost seemed to blend into the background.
Almost.
As they all arrived together after parading through the city of Montreal and enjoying the long, leisurely drive out to iCar in Mirabel, everyone gathered to watch the drivers line up in their designated “lanes” to start the hot laps. From 911s to Aventadors to Model Xs and even a few MINIs thrown in for good measure, they were all there. Rollers, Maseratis, Ferraris, a few Lotus, even a few Hellcats.
In all, 240 drivers (which means an equal number of cars) participated in the 2016 D4S event at iCar, and 700 Starlight family members attended the event during the day, with 200 volunteers on hand to help out, as well.
That means this year’s event raised $453,000 the day of the event, and donations are still coming in so they’re on the way to hitting the $500k mark. In the three years since this drive event was organized by Starlight CEO Brian Bringolf and Executive Chairman, UPS Store, Larry Plotnick, they’ve raised over $1 million for the foundation.
Fast cars and lots of smiles to raise money? Really, is there any better way to do it? I don’t think so.
Click to find out more about the Starlight Children’s Foundation. If you wish to donate to the D4S fund, click here.
Sources:
Starlight Canada
D4S Canada