Cruisin' For A Cure™
Presented by Debbie Baker, Ross Kroenert and over 125 volunteers!
14th Annual Show - Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013
OC Fair & Events Center, Costa Mesa CA
Supporting CITY of HOPE Prostate Cancer Program
For 14 years now, Debbie Baker has been educating folks about prostate cancer with the best tool she can think of: a classic car show.
Namely, the Cruisin' for a Cure event in Costa Mesa, CA which combines a huge custom/classic auto show with prostate cancer screenings to raise awareness about the disease and encourage early detection and prevention.
"I call Cruisin' For A Cure the "Save Your Life" Car Show in California. It's the largest one day charity event in the nation with more than 3500 cars, old and new," explains Debbie. "Over the past 13 years we have tested more than 12,000 men for prostate cancer and have saved over 3,000 men from the disease they would not have known about had they not taken advantage of the free screenings at this event and others."
Debbie started the event after her husband was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. She and the team of volunteers and organizers want to make sure that the disease can be identified early. The event is held in September as part of Prostate Cancer Awareness month. She knew that the cars would bring in the crowds, and that the availability of the free screenings would certainly encourage attendees to get their numbers checked. The event has been so successful that a number of shows around the country have sprung up, like Car Show/Cancer Screening franchises.
Cruisin' for a Cure is an all volunteer event, and to make sure the fundraising goes directly research, entry and participant checks are made out to the research institution itself. In this case, City of Hope Prostate Cancer Program in Orange County, CA. The event is supported by a number of outside sponsors as well including Meguiar's, Magnaflow, Firestone, America's tires, Interstate Batteries, Mac Tools, Mickey Thompson Tires amongst the 250 vendors. Dave McClellan, the voice of NHRA, acts as MC.
In addition to the car show, the event features live entertainment, food, and cruisin' lanes. But the most important facet is the screening component. Debbie will identify survivors and give them blue shirts to wear during the event as inspiration to the other attendees. The efforts are making a difference.
"Men are starting to realize that prostate cancer is "not an old man's disease," Debbie explains. "It is claiming 207,000 lives a year. Getting a simple PSA blood test and tracking their numbers for comparison each year to see if they start to go up makes a difference. We are seeing prostate cancer now more and more in men in their early 40's and with more aggressive cancers too. They need to start screening now."
Debbie has words for the men directly, "You put oil in your cars, you check your radiators, why not check your own body with a simple blood test? If you want to do the complete exam, that's free too. Last year alone, 26 out of 186 men had a full exam, and came back with suspicious lumps. That exam literally saved their lives."
The original Cruisin' for a Cure will be held September 28, 2013 at the OC Fair and Events center in Costa Mesa, CA. Check our events page to find out more about related events in other areas of the country.
For more information,got to www.cruisinforacure.com.
2013 Show Car Entry Form
2013 Vendor Entry Form
Gates open 4:30a.m. for participant cars and at 7a.m. for spectators
Entry fee: $15; $13 with AAA card
Kids under 12 are free
Contact Us
www.cruisinforacure.com