The Wilderness Trail Region of the Porsche Club of America has launched Horsepower for Hope, a fundraising campaign to repair and fuel the family cars that carry children to care at Niswonger Children’s Hospital.
Donations are open now at bit.ly/3S2ymGF, and the campaign will culminate in the club’s inaugural Horsepower for Hope car show — free and open to the public — on Saturday, Sept. 19, beginning at 11 a.m., in the lot beside the children’s hospital in Johnson City.
Fundraiser to aid patient transportation
“Money raised will support patient transportation assistance through the Ballad Health Foundation, helping families cover the vehicle repairs and travel costs that stand between a child and their care,” a news release says.
“Families drive from all over the region to reach Niswonger Children’s Hospital, and across repeat visits and long stays the miles add up fast,” club officials add in the release. “Tires that had a few more months left in them, an oil change that could have waited — suddenly they can’t. Add fuel, hotel nights and an unexpected repair, and the cost of simply getting there becomes its own crisis.
“Left unsolved, it could turn into a missed appointment, a delayed treatment, and a parent making an impossible choice,” officials add.
“Our members spend more time than most in their cars. We know exactly what a broken-down car costs a family — and for these families, it can cost their child a treatment,” says Ryan Elswick, president of the Wilderness Trail Region of the PCA. “This is the rare cause where what we love to do and what somebody desperately needs are the same thing. Every dollar goes toward getting a kid to the appointment they would have missed.”
Jack Simpson, president of the Ballad Health Foundation, adds, “My favorite thing about working with our various donors is that they’re always finding new, creative ways to support our children’s hospital. We have a trove of generous, compassionate people in our region, and it’s our job to get out to them with our mission. The support always follows, and we can’t be thankful enough.”
Ballad Health Foundation is the fundraising arm of Ballad Health, an integrated community health
improvement organization serving 29 counties of the Appalachian Highlands in Northeast Tennessee,
Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky.
Car show is free and open to public
The Sept. 19 car show is free to attend and open to everyone. The lot is reached by continuing on Vonderfecht Way and taking the immediate right after Niswonger Children’s Hospital.
To give now, visit wtrpca.org/give.
About the Wilderness Trail Porsche Club
The Wilderness Trail Region, Porsche Club of America has brought Porsche owners together in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia since 1978, and in recent years “it has become one of the most active regions in the Nation — with a calendar rivaling regions many times its size and recognition on the international stage,” officials say.
To learn more about the Wilderness Trail Region, Porsche Club of America, visit wtrpca.org.