Drivin’ laps (so many laps!) for Make a Wish Canada in SW Ontario

Here are all of the goodies about this fabulous fundraiser:

$1000 Challenge Make A Wish Canada Fundraiser

When: Tuesday, August 6, 2024 — 10:00am – 4:00pm

Where: Southwestern Ontario car enthusiasts will gather at Grand Bend Motorplex to run their vehicles on the road course for 4 hours.

Admission: Free!

The challenge

All drivers will find and purchase a vehicle for less than $1,000 dollars to drive the course.

Winners will be judged on number of laps completed and how they make their vehicle stand out from the pack.

How those cars add up to cash for Make a Wish Canada

Once the event is completed, all of the vehicles will be picked up by Donate A Car Canada. All proceeds will be donated to Make A Wish Canada. 

And what about you?

The public is encouraged to head out and take part in the road course run as well as the car show that will be happening during the event. A BBQ lunch will be provided with all proceeds going to Make A Wish Canada! The Grand Bend Sobeys is graciously donating all the food and drinks. The Grand Bend legion is providing a BBQ and a generous donation, too!

How Donate a Car Canada is involved

Once the event is complete, all of the racers will be donating their vehicles to Make-A-Wish Canada through our program!

The way this works: our supporting agent will either re-sell or recycle all of these vehicles. The net proceeds from that process will go directly to the charity. Each vehicle donor will receive a tax receipt (via CanadaHelps) for this additional gift.

We know that there are currently 11 vehicles registered, and we are so excited to see how the donations rev up for this amazing charity.

Do you have a vehicle of your own to donate? The process is simple and quick! Not only that, the tow is always free! Just click the “Donate Now” button on our site and we’ll have you rollin’ for charity in no time.

UPDATE: How did it go?

Make A Wish Canada is the happy recipient of a generous bundle of vehicle donations! On top of the funds raised at the actual Grand Bend Motorplex event, we are in process with our supporting agent on 9 vehicles. What this means: our agent is assessing on vehicles for re-sale and recycle value. They will update us when the math is all sorted out. Funds will come our way so that they can be disbursed to the charity. This may be be complete as early as accounting month-end in August. If not, stay tuned for further updates at the end of September!

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Childhood Cancer Awareness myths debunked

Some straight up facts

• There are about 10,000 children living with cancer in Canada today.
• Each year, about 1500 cases are diagnosed
• Because of significant advances in therapy, 78% of these children will survive 5 years or more, an increase of almost 46% since the early 1960s.
• More than 70 percent of children diagnosed with cancer become long-term survivors and the majority of them are considered cured. However, long-term effects of surviving the treatments for childhood cancer can affect these children’s futures.
• In the early 1950s, less than 10 percent of childhood cancer patients could be cured.
• Leukemias, tumors of the brain and nervous system, the lymphatic system, kidneys, bones and muscles are the most common childhood cancers.
• In Canada, childhood cancer remains responsible for more deaths from one year through adolescence than any other disease; more deaths than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and AIDS combined.
• About one in four children who are diagnosed with cancer will die of the disease.
• With a mortality rate of close to 25%, Canada loses tens of thousands of years of potential life each year to childhood cancer. In terms of potential life saved, childhood cancer rank second only to breast cancer.
• Childhood cancers differ from adult cancers. Adults are most affected by breast, lung, prostate, bowel and bladder cancers. Children are most affected by acute leukemia, tumours of the brain and nervous system, the lymphatic system, kidneys, bones and muscles.

From http://childhoodcancer.ca

Shandra’s Story

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This one hits home for me as I’ve shared in a previous blog. I have a son who is a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed at 10 months, had surgery to remove a kidney at 11 months and started chemotherapy 2 days after his first Christmas. We spent that Christmas within the confines of hospital walls…and tubes…and sleeplessness.

The truth is we got the best possible outcome we could have in our situation. He’s 12 ½ years old, considered cured and has more energy than the rest of the household put together! Not everyone gets to experience that kind of story.

One thing I love about our story, though, is that it proves the importance and necessity of research. Ten years before he was diagnosed with a Wilm’s Tumour, the survival rate was somewhere around 10% for that type of childhood cancer. When he was in treatment the survival rate had advanced to 96%!! As a parent, you can imagine the gratefulness for anyone and everyone involved in the advancement of treatment and care to provide the kind of hope – and outcome – we had.

What your car has to do with it all

Donate A Car Canada is such a powerful tool for our charities to utilize because it fills so many needs in a variety of ways. Below are organizations that participate in our program and who directly impact childhood cancer awareness. One of the benefits of donating your vehicle using our tried and tested system, is that you choose who benefits. Whether it’s the Canadian Cancer Society, offering support for research and advancement, or whether it’s a Foundation the provides support to families, a Wish Foundation or a hospital, the number of people and organizations involved is monumental – and very much needed.

As you research your donation options and consider giving the funds generated from the sale of your vehicle to a worthy cause, please know that no matter how large or small the gift, it truly does make a difference and definitely impacts lives.  Just ask me.

Of the organizations listed below, 5 of them have had direct impact on, and involvement with, our family. It’s not small thing.

Alberta Red Cross

BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

Kids Cancer Care Foundation

Kids With Cancer Society

Make A Wish Foundation

Stollery Children’s Hospital

Variety Manitoba

Easy as 1-2-3

Do you have a car, truck, van, or SUV to give to the cause of childhood cancer awareness? It’s so easy! Simply click the button below and fill in a donation form. It takes less than 10 minutes! Or, if you would like to speak with a real live human, give us a jingle at 1-877-250-4907 — we are here to help!

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You won’t believe how many happy minivan donors we’ve served in just one month!

Dusty the Dodge Caravan is grand indeed

We love processing minivans for your charity’s vehicle donation program! Here’s what one Grand Caravan donor had to say,

“Our 1997 Dodge Caravan was just picked up by Steven, a tow truck operator
working for the Armstrong agent. The removal went very smoothly.

This whole process has gone smoothly from the beginning. All of you at
Donate A Car Canada have been friendly and a pleasure to deal with. The way
your email instructions are designed are clear and easy to follow.

Thank you so very much for your attention to detail and email follow ups.
We name all the vehicles we’ve ever owned and “Dusty” has carried loads of
Girl Guides on camping trips over the years. It’s been a bit emotional
today saying goodbye to this old safe transporter friend. Thank you for
making it easier for me.” ~ D & K. K. ~

Minivan donation helps Transforming Faces

Dusty’s donors’ charity of choice was Transforming Faces. TF champions kiddos around the world. They believe, “Children born with cleft lip and palate deserve to be supported every step of the way. Comprehensive cleft care makes that possible.”

So many more minivans, so many more charities!

Dusty and his legacy of giving is storied. We share in the gratitude and affection donors have for their long-serving cars, trucks, and vans. These minivans are much more than metal and rubber. They can feel like members of the family!

Many times our donors keep their donation stories close. We aren’t privvy to the deeply personal reasons a charity has been chosen. The reasons for donating are as varied as the donors themselves! So are the charities.

Check out our Dodge Caravan donations from just this past month. Donors gave their 1992’s and their 2002’s…and many more! Below is a quick list to give you an idea of how your charity of choice might be helped. You can find detailed charity mission statements and locations on our charities page if you need a hand making your own choice.

Alberta Cancer Foundation: $120.00 (This one was a remote area Alberta pick-up.)

Canadian Cancer Society received three gifts for $250.00, $3791.25, and $500.00.

Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County: $500.00

Covenant House Vancouver was gifted two Caravans totaling $300.00 and $3140.25!

Diabetes Canada received a scrap-ready donation in BC.

Health Sciences Centre Foundation: $250.00

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada: $300.00

Make-A-Wish Canada: $450.00

People Ensuring Animal Care Exists (P.E.A.C.E) received a scrap-ready donation.

Peterborough Humane Society: $500.00

Pregnancy Care Centre: $310.00

SPCA Newfoundland & Labrador – St. John’s Branch: $100.00

Company minivans help 5 more charities

Canadian companies are generous in their fleet donations. Our Dodge Caravan donors aided these five charities with donations adding up to over $2000.00 on scrap-ready company vans!

Heart and Stroke Foundation

Kidney Cancer Canada

Kids with Cancer Society of Northern Alberta

Rotary Flames House (Alberta Children’s Hospital)

Sudbury Manitoulin Children’s Foundation

Ready to roll with your own donation?

You’ll see from our social media and blog posts that your charity may have a donation program supported by us here at Donate a Car Canada. Donate with very high expectations! You will experience excellent donor care. We will seek the highest dollar return for the charity of choice. Furthermore, your charity does not pay for this service in any way.

We’re just a click or a call (1-877-250-4904) away!

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Father’s Day your own way

Mother’s Day comes with a thousand gift ideas and sales galore. Dad’s day isn’t quite so marketing-heavy! Are you looking for creative ways to engage your own pops this year?

Here at Donate a Car Canada we can serve any charity in Canada. What does this mean for you? For Father’s Day? Well, to start with…

Is it time to get your Camry off Dad’s driveway?

Gift dad the ultimate peace of mind by donating that unused/unwanted vehicle you’ve been storing in his back yard. Or his garage. Or his driveway. There’s not cost to you! We’ll do all of the set-up for your free tow. You can choose any charity you (or, better yet, Dad!) wish to receive the net proceeds from the re-sale/recycling of your old vehicle!

Click here for the 10 minute set-up process:

You can also give us a jingle at 1-877-250-4904 and have us do the form for you over the phone.

Staying active – together – this Father’s Day

No vehicle to donate, but curious about donating to a charity in Dad’s honor? Many of our receiving charities have unique fund raisers on-the-go. You can ride, hike, sleep, or rapel (Yes, rapel!) your way to raising a donation in your father’s name.

You and Dad can join together in a challenge for

• Make-a-Wish Northern Alberta: rapel or trek – Rope for Hope or Trailblaze for Wishes.

• The Lighthouse Supported Living and Asthma Canada give-a-dollar programs in the works.

• The ARCH Hospice “Virtual Great Bucket List Cycle” effort, or the Peloton/Kids Cancer Care cycle challenge!

Or almost any local animal shelter: they would welcome your joint effort in collecting wish-list goodies for the animals in their care!

These are just a few examples. Explore our charities list, select a charity that Dad can get behind, and find out what they’re up to! Visit the charity’s web page and you’ll be sure to find a “way to give” that is a good Father’s Day gift match!

With gratitude for dad

Here’s to time spent together, whether in person, or virtually, this Father’s Day. And to the together-goodness of joining hearts and minds in spreading Canadian respect and generosity!

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