15th annual Cars for Cancer to feature car show, cruise, live music & more; event raises money for Johnson Family Cancer Center

The Different Strokes Car Club’s 15th annual Cars for Cancer show and cruise are expected to draw thousands of people and hundreds of automobiles to the yearly event that has, since its inception, raised about $300,000 for Mercy Health’s Johnson Family Cancer Center in Muskegon.

The event, which will include a Sept. 1 cruise and a Sept. 2 car show, annually draws significant support from individuals and small businesses throughout our region who are inspired to support those in our community battling cancer, organizer Bill Hill said.

“We’ve raised $300,000 over the last 15 years, which has helped quite a bit,” Hill said. “It’s a local cancer center that we’re helping out, and most all of the money we’ve raised has come from individuals and small, local businesses.”

“We’ve been able to raise a good amount of money to help local cancer patients,” Hill continued.

The event’s kick-off party will begin at 5pm on Sunday, Sept. 1 at the Mercy Health Lakes Village, located at 6291 S. Harvey Street. There will be an entertainment tent from 5pm-11pm on the site, and individuals can also register their vehicles from 5pm-8pm for that evening’s cruise and the following day’s car show. Registration for both days is $10.

More than 400 cars are expected to participate in the cruise, which will bring drivers through Ferrysburg, Spring Lake, and beyond. The cruise itself will start at 6:30pm.

Then, on Monday, Sept. 2, a car show with about 700 to 1,000 automobiles, a live auction, door prizes, a grocery giveaway, a pin-up contest, valve cover races, and more will be held at the Mercy Health Lakes Village. The car show will begin at 7am, and the Knights of Columbus #13035 will hold a pancake breakfast from 7am-12pm. Cars that will be featured in the show will range from 1920s models through modern-day vehicles.

For those who didn’t register, you still can on Monday; registration will be held from 7am-11am.

To commemorate the event’s 15th anniversary this year, there will be a special featured fundraiser: the raffle of a fully restored 1956 Chevrolet BelAir two-door hardtop. Tickets are $5 each, and the raffle drawing will take place between 2pm and 3pm on Monday. 

The Chevrolet BelAir was donated by DuWayne Wright, an avid supporter of the car show since the beginning. After losing his wife and one daughter to cancer, he decided to donate the car in their memory.

A number of local businesses—AutoBody X-Perts, Exhaust Special-T’s, and the Upholstery Barn—donated body work, repainting, upholstery, and more in order to get the BelAir ready for the raffle, Hill noted.

“This year, that will put a $25,000 boost into our donations,” Hill said.

Both days are free for spectators and open to the public. For more information about the event, visit its Facebook page by clicking here.

Story by Anna Gustafson, the publisher and editor of Muskegon Times. You can connect with her by emailing MuskegonTimes@gmail.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.