Tyson Paley, 10, was ready for a rally.
He likes fast cars, racing in BMX motocross events, and got the chance to hop in one of the speedy vehicles for the Okanagan Dream Rally, Sunday.
“It’s fast,” he said, adding he was looking forward to riding shotgun in a fancy car.
Kids, parents and car enthusiasts gathered in downtown Kelowna, Aug. 6 to see some shiny vehicles.
The second annual rally had around 200 kids in 200 fast vehicles for an experience of a lifetime.
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Driver Tony Essler was also looking forward to the event, driving his 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman.
“I did it last year, the kids loved it and it was a fantastic event. It’s got a cool factor for the drivers there’s no question about it.”
His favourite part of the event is watching the kids getting ready for the ride.
Each driver, child and car are given a number and each matching number pairs them together. The drivers and children haven’t met beforehand.
“I don’t know who my side buddy is yet. I had a young man last year being raised by his grandmother so it was cool,” said Essler.
Drivers took their kids to Barefoot Beach Resort where they enjoyed lunch, music and more before heading back to Kelowna.
Kids with the Central Okanagan Hospice Association, Kelowna KidSport and Autism Okanagan rode shotgun in a variety of different cars to Penticton and back.
Proceeds from the event will also be donated to the charities.
The fundraiser was created by Matt August, co-founder of the August Family Foundation. Last year, $134,000 supported the hospice with its new Bereavement Centre.
“We did it last year and we didn’t know how well it was going to turn out but we ended up having an awesome year. So this year we just wanted to make things a little bit bigger and a little bit better,” said event organizer Corey Dunbar. “We had an awesome turnout, we had 20 volunteers last year. This year we didn’t have enough jobs for the volunteers.”
Around 65 volunteers helped with the rally and volunteers had to be turned away.
