A local car club continued its tradition of making year-end charitable donations to several local organizations and nonprofits last week.
So far, the Apple Country Auto Club has split a total of $6,000 between six groups, confirmed Ronnie Prater, club president.
Among those recently receiving the pre-Christmas donations were the Gilmer Community Food Pantry, childhood literacy nonprofit Kids Ferst, the Gilmer Senior Center, Gilmer Toys for Tots, Gilmer Family Connection and the local Department of Family and Children’s Service’s (DFCS) Christmas program.
A donation will also be made to the Gilmer High School Auto Tech program at the end of the school year, which can be used to pay for tools and certification exams for students pursuing a career in auto repair, Prater noted.
Making charitable contributions has long been an aim of the car club, and being able to again host the Apple Classic Car Show the first Apple Festival Saturday allowed for more to be donated this year than last, Prater confirmed.
Like the festival and all associated events, the car show was not held in 2020.
A series of summer cruise-ins also helped boost the charitable donations, Prater said.
Those cruise-ins are expected to continue next year in the park-and-ride area across from Poole’s Bar-B-Q, he noted. The car club also holds its monthly business meetings at the East Ellijay barbecue restaurant.
“(Before), we met at a different restaurant every month, but we have the best place for a cruise-in and we have a home now,” Prater said.
The car club will host one more cruise-in, this one Christmas-themed, at that same location Saturday, Dec. 4, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
“It’s rain or shine, and anybody can come,” Prater said.
Admission to the first-time Christmas Cruise-In will be free, and there’s no charge for showing a car at the event, Prater noted.
Donations will be accepted in the form of cash and new, unopened toys, both for the local Toys for Tots drive and the Gilmer DFCS Christmas effort, which helps foster families.
“We’ll be doing a 50/50 (cash) raffle drawing, and people can donate. You get a 20 percent discount on your food (at Poole’s) if you bring a car to show. Whatever we raise will be split equally between DFACS and Toys for Tots,” Prater said.