THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Vintage Sports Car Club presented a $1,000 cheque to support Grace Place on Monday.
The local car club has existed in the city for more than 30 years.
Glenn Burton, the club’s vice-president, said it tries to donate something to a charity of its choice every year, depending on its financial position.
Some of these donations have gone to regional food banks and Our Kids Count in past years.
“This year, we chose Grace Place. Grace Place has been around for a long time and we’ve been aware of them and they do wonderful work on the Simpson Street area in providing homeless people or people in need with services,” said Burton.
He said this year, it was able to raise the $1,000 primarily through donations made at a silent auction held during the membership’s Christmas party, which the club later topped up from its bank account.
“I think it’s important because, as a club, we do things during the year and we get a lot of support from local businesses and local organizations,” said Burton.
While the club participates in some car shows, most of its activities are drives, scavenger hunts or other various activities during the year, Burton said.
“I think we’re an organization that we welcome everyone and obviously most of our members do have cars, but certainly anyone else that is willing and wants to join us is certainly welcome. We do a lot of activities during the year,” said Burton.
He explained that last year, the club held a large event called Rendezvous, with people coming in from the U.S. and Manitoba.
It has also, in the past, provided a bursary to different high schools for students who are furthering their education in the automotive or mechanical field, added Burton.
“We do get a lot of support from the community and our belief is that if we can afford it, we’d like to give something back to the community. So that’s why we try to do it as a priority every year to donate something,” he said.
Next year, he said it would go through the same process it did this year and try to select what the membership believes is an organization that they would like to donate to.
“When we come to the end of the year, we have a look at what our financial situation is and I’m sure that we will be in the position again to make a donation,” said Burton.
“Certainly, at this point, we don’t know how much that will be and we do look each year at different organizations in need and we will choose one at that time.”
He said it has a very good club and great membership and hopes to continue to do that for many years to come.
