Nemours Children’s Hospital partnered with Central Florida Cars & Coffee to create a fundraising event called Nona Cars4Kids. The event launched on May 20. Every $5 donated toward a participant counted as a vote toward winning the title of 2018’s “Best Ride” award. With 40 participants, $10,238 was raised. “It all goes to the children to support the children at the hospital, 100 percent of it goes to them,” said Ankush Shah, executive director for Dream Cars 4 Kids and manager for Central Florida Cars & Coffee.

All car enthusiasts who registered to partake in the event showed up at Nemours at 9 a.m. They checked in, showed their cars, and indulged in a breakfast. Food was provided by Panera Bread, which also happened to be a sponsor for the event.

By 10 a.m., everyone rallied to Tesla, where they received the chance to be driven in a Model X 100D. Afterwards, everyone made their way to Orlando Kart Center (also a sponsor for Nona Cars4Kids). Everyone raced against each other in the go karts for the “Fastest Lap” award. At the end, those who won “Best Ride” and the fastest lap time won tickets to Festivals of Speed, four Disney tickets and perks from Panera Bread. First place for “Best Ride” went to Carmine Silano. Not only did he raise the most money, but he also sponsored the rally through his business called Cheer Sounds. Rafael Mora-Rivera was recognized for second place, and  Christopher Crespi took third place. The top two for “Fastest Lap” were Joseph Hall and Milla Bimmer.

According to Jonathan Springer, who aids Shah in sponsoring Cars & Coffee through Driven Real Estate Team, the two partnered up to create Dream Cars 4 Kids. The objective is to bring exotic cars to children who are too ill to travel out and see them for themselves.

“This is for the kids who can’t make it out to Cars & Coffee…we’re bringing the car show to them,” said Springer (hence the event’s initial meetup in front of Nemours). Dream Cars 4 Kids will be hosting another rally later this year on Sept. 6. The funds generated from this four-day trip through Florida will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  

Taking it back to the local picture, Central Florida Cars & Coffee donates all of their proceeds to Nemours each month. Nemours development coordinator, Matthew Morak, says the automotive group raises about $2,000-$3,000 a month for the hospital. For him, the children at Nemours are inspiring and motivating because even though they might suffer from sickness, they make the best out of what they are given.

“They’re happy to have an opportunity to get better and get healthy,” stated Morak. At the end of the day, he is happy to partner with Cars & Coffee to help the kids and give them experiences they will never forget.