With gloomy weather looming, we weren’t 100% sure that the 3rd annual Cruise-In for UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital was actually going to happen. By 9:00 am, we were ready to cancel when the sun started peeking through the clouds and the weather apps showed clear skies until 2 pm. Perfect! This weather was just what we were waiting for and it ended up being a beautiful summer day for the #DSCruiseIn16.
The cars began rolling in with the first being a light blue 1963 Mercury Monterey and we knew it was going to be a good day. When the gang of Camaro’s rolled in, we knew it was going to be a GREAT day!
D&S Automotive had an excellent turnout with over 90 of the best rides in Cleveland coming out for UH Rainbows. Vehicles lined the lots of our shop in Mentor with imports, exotics, vintage muscle, and classic cars, trucks and Jeeps on Saturday, July 30th.
Throughout the day, attendees enjoyed refreshments and Italian sausage, hot dogs and burgers while volunteers buzzed around with tickets for Chinese and 50/50 raffles to raise even more money for UH Rainbows.
Shortly after 12 pm, the raffle winners were announced and the cruise-in ballots were counted. There were so many outstanding vehicles that many of the winners came down to one or two votes. (You can see all of the winners, including the cars in our blog post here.)
While holding his 3 year old daughter on his arm, CJ spoke into the microphone and thanked everyone for coming out and helping this worthy cause. He appreciates that every year we can put together an event to help the babies and children at UH Rainbows and bring them home to the families who love them.
As seen on our website, Vice President CJ Paterniti has been an avid supporter of the UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital ever since the hospital provided long-term care to his newborn twin daughters. The Rainbow Babies’ doctors’ and nurses’ relentless dedication and excellent care brought peace of mind to CJ and his family; that same dedication and care is also what brought CJ’s daughters home, happy and healthy.
Every donation from the cruise-in is going to UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. We were thrilled to make $2,135 at the event. Our Company President, Carmen Paterniti plans to donate and match the donations raised from the event, making the final donation $5,000.
We’re anticipating giving UH Rainbows their check. D&S Automotive will be travelling next week to give them our donation.
We want to thank everyone again for coming out. We’re so excited to announce the date for next year’s Cruise-In as Saturday, July 29, 2017. We hope to see you back out with us at D&S in Mentor, OH!