Queen Creek Kiwanis Club’s car show helps kids in need

With a holiday season that is likely to see more families in need, the Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek is ready to help.

The club that provides back-to-school and food drives is returning with one of its largest charity events.

The club will host its 17th annual Kids’ Christmas Car Show & Toy Drive 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, at Desert Mountain Park, 22201 S. Hawes Drive.

The car show will benefit both the club and the Queen Creek Unified School District’s Family Resource Center.

“The express purpose of all of our clubs all over the world is to help children. And so, our particular club here in Queen Creek is able to help the kids of the Queen Creek area,” said Carol Prellberg, a member of the car show committee. “We do that by partnering with the schools. In some cases, it’s all of the Queen Creek public schools, but it is also some charter schools and it’s some schools that are outside of Queen Creek.”

As many as 200 classic cars, trucks and specialty vehicles are expected to be at the event. Participants are asked to make a $20 registration donation and bring an unwrapped toy for a boy and a girl.

“We have people who come in with their hot rods that they have souped up. We have people that come in with these magnificent cars,” Prellberg said. “We’ve even had one year that I think the students at (East Valley Institute of Technology) put together a car.”

Proceeds are split between the Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek and QCUSD’s Family Resource Center.

“At the end of the day we wind up with hundreds of toys, which we then give to the family resource center for them to distribute to kids who might not otherwise get a visit from Santa,” Prellberg said.

Those interested in participating can register online before Friday, Dec. 12, at bit.ly/kidscarshow. Onsite registration will be available the day of the event from 8 to 9 a.m.

The car show is free to the public, but guests can also give back by participating in prize raffles. One raffle is a so-called 50-50 with winners getting half the money and the other half going to the Queen Creek Fire Cadet program.

Other giveaways include gift baskets and gift cards from various local retailers, with Total Wine and More is donating a wine-tasting party for 20 people worth $600.

The car show is just one way the Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek helps children in need. Club members put together holiday food boxes made up of items donated by students throughout the district. This year the club is also gathering donations for hygiene kits.

Another major program that is dear to Prellberg’s heart is the back-to-school clothing drive.

“I was shopping this year with two little girls that were sisters, and somewhere in the midst of shoes and underwear and socks and pants and shirts and so on, one little girl says to me, ‘This is the best day of my life.’ I mean, my God, that just melted me when she said that,” Prellberg said. “That’s the reason why I do as much as I do for Kiwanis, because every now and then you learn just how much of an impact you can have on one child.”

The club also provides learning tools such as multiplication and division flashcards and individual dry-erase boards, for third-graders in 27 schools. Prellberg said the club expects to hand out close to 3,000 of those learning tools.

“We award $15,000 in college scholarships every year, as well. And in this case, this year, what we’re also going to be doing is including not just colleges, but also if a student wants to go to a trade school, because I think that’s really, really important,” she said.

QCUSD’s Family Resource Center supported by the Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek is not to be confused with the Queen Creek Family Resource Center inside WonderWise Preschool, 21259 E. Ocotillo Road.

That center, which opened in June, is funded through a $750,000 grant from First Things First to the town of Queen Creek. First Things First is the state’s only public funding source dedicated to early childhood development.

QCUSD’s Family Resource Center, inside Queen Creek Junior High, 20435 S. Old Ellsworth Road, has a food pantry for students and their families, conducts holiday food drives and sends referrals to various state and county social agencies, as well as nonprofits that help those in need.

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