Cool and fun way to drive fundraiser

Rob Edwards was happy to take part in an event raising money for a worthy cause. Photo / Andrew Warner

Seeing people from across Tauranga get together and raise thousands of dollars for sick children was "heartwarming" for Bethlehem Town Centre's marketing manager.

On Saturday, the centre hosted the first Cool Cars for Cure Kids, a car show and family fun day out to raise money for Cure Kids' Red Nose Day drive.

Bethlehem Town Centre marketing manager Leanne Brown said 127 cars took part in the show, from a 1920 vintage to a brand new Camaro Shelby.

"There were way more than I was anticipating. We had a huge crowd as well and raised twice as much as I had wished for Cure Kids and Red Nose Day.

"There were fantastic cars, hundreds of people, the weather was perfect. It was a perfect day really."

A total $2580 was raised.

Mrs Brown said people at the event were generous and many approached the collectors from Lions, Rotary and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic event management students themselves with donations.

"I'm a little bit emotional about it actually, it was very heartwarming.

"What we wanted to do was get people out on a beautiful day to support a community event and see some amazing cars. Often, car shows are specific to a make, model or age but we wanted to make it appeal to everyone."

Also at the event was a bouncy castle and slide for the children and a cherry picker for people to get a birds-eye view of Bethlehem.

Mrs Brown said the event had been a success and there would be discussions this week about whether to make it an annual fixture.

Rob Edwards is the proud owner of a 1965 Alvis drophead coupe, the only car of its kind in New Zealand.

His car was a popular attraction at the event, although Mr Edwards said at least 50 per cent of people he talked to had never heard of an Alvis, a make of car he said was priced somewhere between a Jaguar and a Bentley in its day.

Mr Edwards felt Cure Kids was a worthy organisation to support in its role of researching cures to illnesses that affect kids.