Abbotsford’s Wings and Wheels event, which occurred last weekend at Tradex, has been deemed a massive success by organizers and raised $57,128 for the Crystal Gala Foundation.
That money will now be used to purchase equipment to support women and men in their fight against breast cancer.
The event was supported by Abbotsford’s 360 Group of Companies and featured Canada’s largest drive-thru car show.
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Rick Francoeur, the president of 360 Group of Companies, said the concept worked well and he was thrilled with the support from the community.
“We knew that the Crystal Gala had planned on gifting some important pieces of equipment for local hospitals to help people in our community, and we knew that COVID would make those gifts difficult in 2020,” he stated in a press release. “My brother Daryl and I wanted to try to replace some of the money that the Gala event would have raised, so we came up with the concept of a drive thru hot rod car show. We started making calls and people jumped at the idea. Soon the show had been expanded to include vintage airplanes, tractors, trucks, emergency service vehicles, a significant display of military equipment from conflicts around the globe along with the hot rods, muscle cars, vintage and classic cars that 360 Group is known for. We were surprised and humbled by the outpouring of support.”
Foundation chair Gerri Charles stated that their organization is thrilled with the results of the event, which came together in less than five weeks.
“When 360 Group said they had an idea for a drive thru car show to raise money for us we were delighted,” she said. “When we saw the incredible effort to create something really special in our honour it was almost overwhelming. To see a local company step up with an idea to help and then so many people come together during these uncertain time to raise so much money in the fight against breast cancer was very moving.”
The event featured 120,000 square feet of vintage buses, planes, tractors, 9-1-1 vehicles, along with some of the best collector, antique, hot rod and exotic cars from private collections in British Columbia. The BC Truck Museum, the BC Farm Museum and the Canadian Museum of Flight all participated in the event, as well as entries and displays by dozens of fire departments, paramedic organizations and police detachments. The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival also supported the event with a large drive thru food truck festival which took place simultaneously in the Tradex parking lot. Many local and national businesses also stepped up to sponsor and support the event, and a number of long-time supporters of the Crystal Gala also made personal contributions.
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“Not only did people from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley come out in force to support the event, people drove from the interior, Vancouver Island and as far away as Dease Lake,” Francoeur added. “We wanted to do something that brought people together in a fun, safe way while raising money for a fantastic charity – and from all of the positive response we heard throughout the weekend, I think we succeeded.”
For more information about the Crystal Gala Foundation visit, crystalgala.ca.
