A car club exclusively for women who own vintage cars hosted an event at Holifield Park, 12500 Excelsior Drive, in Norwalk on April 30 to raise funds for a community member battling Stage 3 Brain Cancer.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Vintage Ladies Car Club sold baked goods, hot dogs, drinks and other food items along with raffle tickets for a variety of prizes; they all also brought their vintage cars and invited others to bring theirs, too.
Over one hundred people and surrounding car clubs visited the park throughout the day, bringing their own lawn chairs, tables and tents to catch up with one another and enjoy the event.
Many also brought their own vintage cars and were invited to park them in rows in the parking lot for visitors to view.
Towards the end of the event, a raffle was held and the members thanked everyone for their support.
Funds were being raised for Justine Amancio, who is a student at a local high school fighting Stage 3 Brain Cancer; the Club decided to host the event after a request was put in by one of Amancio’s teachers.
In 2018, Pat Garcia founded the Vintage Ladies Car Club in honor of her mother who passed away due to ovarian cancer.
“It was really hard when my mom passed away,” Garcia said. “So I started this club and began hosting fundraisers in hopes of helping other people battling something, too.”
The Vintage Ladies Car Club is not only a community for women and families who enjoy cruising in and showing off their cars. Their purpose is to raise funds for those battling [any form of] cancer and help their community.
The 11 members often hosts fundraisers to provide gift cards, school supplies and clothing to foster kids in the city of Bellflower as well as money for community members in the area.
On average, the Vintage Ladies Car Club hosts about five to six fundraisers a year.
The Club will usually host events in accordance with the requests they receive; 100% of the proceeds they earn throughout the day of their events go to the patient in need.
Garcia said that she is thankful for the immense support of the community and fellow car clubs [such as the Vintage Gente of SoCal and the Anaheim Car Club who attended Saturday’s food sale] during their events.
On May 29, the Vintage Ladies Car Club will host their first annual car show in Bellflower to help Ninos Latinos Unidos, a private non-profit organization for foster kids, with their backpack fundraiser.
“People see our cars, they see these low riders, and they immediately think we’re out to cause trouble,” Garcia said. “But we’re really just trying to do some good. We want our cars to have purpose.”
