Carter County Car Club presents donation checks to 26 organizations
Published 11:04 am Friday, November 22, 2024
Ivan Sanders/Star Correspondent/Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass addresses the audience before presenting Christmas checks to various organizations that support children as part of the car club's fundraising efforts.
Ivan Sanders/Star Correspondent Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass presents a check to Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw for the Shop With a Cop program, organized by the Elizabethton Police Department and Carter County Sheriff’s Office.
Ivan Sanders/Star Correspondent/East Side Elementary librarian Thomas Brown accepts a check for the East Side Angel Tree program from Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass.
Ivan Sanders/Star Correspondent/Paul Linberg, Elizabethton High School auto mechanics instructor, accepts a check from Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass for the school's auto mechanics program. Unaka High School also received a check for its auto mechanics class.
Ivan Sanders/Star/Correspondent T.A. Dugger Junior High guidance counselor Vanessa Nanney accepts a check from Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass for the school's Angel Tree program.
Ivan Sanders/Star Correspondent/Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass receives a jersey from Dream Team Adaptive Sports after presenting a check to the organization. Jessica Lenden-Holt presented the jersey.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Thursday night was a special night for 26 organizations as the Carter County Car Club distributed proceeds raised as part of its summer Cruise-Ins held on West Elk Avenue in downtown Elizabethton, specifically to help children throughout the county.
Despite losing nine events due to bad weather and Hurricane Helene, the club managed to raise and distribute $25,630. The total was $9,000 less than the previous year due to the impact of the missed dates.
In his introductory remarks, Club President Jim Bass thanked many, including City Manager Daniel Estes, Mayor Curt Alexander, and the Elizabethton City Council, for voting 6-1 to allow the cruise-in to continue downtown. Bass also thanked Street and Sanitation Director Danny Hilbert, Street Supervisor Jeff Marlowe, and Elizabethton Chief of Police Jason Shaw.
Bass also thanked all the sponsors that supported the club during the year, which helped them get rolling with their weekend cruise-in.
Following his welcome, organizations were presented checks, including:
- Betsy Book Bus
- Camp Ta-Pa-Win-Go
- Carter County Book Bus
- Dream Team Adaptive Sports
- Elizabethton Police Dept. Shop With a Cop
- Elizabethton/Carter County Boys & Girls Club
- Isaiah 117 House
- TLC Community Center
- The Nest at Calvary Baptist Church
- East Side Elementary School Angel Tree
- Happy Valley Middle School Angel Tree
- Harold McCormick Elementary School Angel Tree
- T.A. Dugger Jr. High School Angel Tree
- West Side Elementary School Angel Tree
- Unaka High School Automotive Program
- Elizabethton High School Automotive Program
- Central Elementary School AR Program
- Cloudland Elementary School AR Program
- East Side Elementary School AR Program
- Hampton Elementary School AR Program
- Happy Valley Elementary School AR Program
- Harold McCormick Elementary School AR Program
- Hunter Elementary School AR Program
- Unaka Elementary School AR Program
- Valley Forge Elementary School AR Program
- West Side Elementary School AR Program
An additional $811.66 collected at the club’s Trunk or Treat event was donated to the Carter County Flood Relief Fund, which wasn’t included in the previous total.
Brandon Young, principal at Happy Valley Middle School, shared how the donation would be special for the 20 or so students currently on the school’s Angel Tree.
“This is huge,” said Young. “A lot of families and children would not have Christmas otherwise. It also means that teachers won’t have to spend money out of their own pockets to purchase items for these families like they usually do. It allows our teachers to keep more money in their pockets for their families. We are much appreciative.”
Bass said the donations couldn’t happen without all those who come to Elizabethton to take part in the weekend Cruise-In.
“I want to thank the hundreds of gear heads – that’s what we call our car lovers – that have either walked through or driven through and donated to us this past summer,” said Bass. “We appreciate all those folks from various points of the Tri-Cities area, North Carolina, and even some South Carolina folks.”
The president also gave a total of donations that have been given since 2011, when the club started keeping records of donations through 2024, saying that $265,848 has been donated to the community.
“I don’t know about you, but I think that is awesome for a bunch of folks that volunteer their time and effort to get out on the street to do this to keep people safe to enjoy cars and fellowship in a family-type atmosphere,” said Bass. “We bring people to our city to enhance the merchants and the other businesses to help them be more profitable.
“It also spurs on young people to enjoy cars. It’s about fellowship and working together not only as a city and county, but we need to learn to do that as a nation.”
Bass said that after everyone has time to enjoy the holidays, the club will gear back up in January to figure out a venue where the car cruise-in can be held in 2025. This is due to issues with the Broad Street Bridge, which will not allow for the streets to be closed in downtown Elizabethton for a cruise-in.
