Ray  Ho – 12/18/16

As I was passing a plate of turkey dinner to a fellow volunteer (simplyhelp.org), I could hear my teenage daughter and her friends giggling in the background.  They seemed to be having fun scooping ice cream to go with the early Thanksgiving dinner at a Woman’s homeless shelter in Los Angeles.  I wonder if the kids understand how lucky we are to be on the giving end.  In any case, I was glad that they happily joined us for the opportunity to help the less fortunate.

Over the Holidays are among the busiest times for volunteers.  There are no shortages of ways to volunteer for good causes.  The ones I enjoy the most are charities benefiting kids.   One such example is Motor4Toys (motor4toys.com), which also happen to be the world’s largest charity car show.  This is the 13th Annual Motor4Toys car show that is held on every 1st Sunday in December from 6:30am to Noon at the Warner Center Anthem building parking lot in Woodland Hills, California.  The event is free and they are asking the participants to bring a unwrap toy worth $10 or more.  The toys will be donated to various charities.

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As I was cruising down the 210 Freeway, my mind was on automatic mode and I missed the 134 interchange.  On my normal workday commute, I don’t merge until I reach the 5 Freeway.  Even though my wife would probably disagree, I am sure this sort of thing happens to everyone, as we are creatures of habit.  Since I had to re-route, I arrived a little later than I originally planned.  As a result, the parking lots were filling up so I decided to park at the adjacent mall.  During my short walk towards the event, I heard music, saw a couple of food trucks, numerous automotive vendors, and parking lots full of show cars.   I walked passed the silent auction tables to reach the toy drop-off staion where volunteers were merrily accepting the donations.  There were tons of toys gathered and more would be coming throughout the morning.

 

Motor4Toys is famous for bringing out the car community and helpful folks alike.  Don’t be suprised if you bump into a celebrity or two.  The vast amount of show cars are generally parked into groups by make or models; there are rows of classics, Corvettes, Lotuses, Maseratis and Porsches among many others.  Scattered all over the lots are some very rare collectables, exotic and interesting cars.  What a treat for the car buffs!

Be prepared to take some time to walk through the entire lot, mingle with fellow car fanatics and automotive vendors, or even the LAPD if you desire.  There were lots of families with young kids and dogs.  The hope is that some kids will eventually become car enthusiasts.  Judging from literally tens of thousands of toys being collected, there will be a lot more smiling kids this Christmas.

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Motor4Toys is indeed a very worthwhile event.  Seeing the massive amount of sweet rides  is a huge bonus.  As this is the season of giving, I will be looking forward to deliver toys for kids in need on Christmas Eve (pasadenajaycees.org) in my Mazda5 minivan decorated with a reindeer costume, painted red brake calipers and the kids favorite – Autobot emblems.