07/31/2026
The History of Cars for HopeKids—and Where We Envision It Going
Cars for HopeKids began as a family initiative, presented in partnership with Super Fast Racing, with a simple mission: use a passion for automobiles to create hope for children facing life-threatening medical conditions. The cars have always been the attraction—but the children have always been the reason.
By its sixth year, the event had grown into a family-friendly festival at Arizona Motorsports Park, featuring collector cars, food trucks, a live DJ, face painting, inflatables, a petting zoo, balloon artists, raffles, and activities for HopeKids families.
When the track closed, the event moved to the Martin Auto Museum in Glendale, continuing its momentum.
Along the way, Cars for HopeKids has built strong partnerships with dealerships, collector groups, car clubs, and businesses—including Mercedes-Benz, INEOS, Toyota, Porsche, Arizona’s Best Cars & Coffee, the Vistancia Car Club, the Martin Auto Museum, and many others.
A defining tradition is that HopeKids children help judge many of the award-winning vehicles, reminding everyone that this is not about trophies—it is about creating joy. To date, Cars for HopeKids has raised more than $226,000 for HopeKids Arizona and has become an annual charity event.
Where We’re Headed
As Cars for HopeKids enters its eighth year, the vision is to transform it into Arizona’s premier charity automotive and community festival. A permanent host partner—possibly Arizona State University—would provide a long-term home while creating opportunities far beyond a single-day event.
We envision welcoming more than 1,000 attendees for a festival featuring world-class collector vehicles, food trucks, live entertainment, auctions, and expanded activities for children with face painting, bounce houses, balloons, petting zoos, STEM exhibits, sensory-friendly activities, and hands-on experiences for children of all abilities.
Just as importantly, we envision building lasting partnerships with a university.
Students from engineering, business, marketing, journalism, nonprofit leadership, hospitality, event management, healthcare, and design programs could gain real-world experience by helping organize, promote, and operate the event.
Automotive clubs, service organizations, fraternities and sororities, ROTC units, student government, and volunteer groups could all play a role in making Cars for HopeKids a signature annual service project.
Our vision is for Cars for HopeKids to become:
☀️ The premier charity automotive event in the Southwest.
☀️ A true community festival where families from across Arizona gather to celebrate and support HopeKids.
☀️ A living classroom where university students develop leadership, event management, marketing, fundraising, engineering, and volunteer experience while serving their community.
☀️ A showcase for Arizona’s automotive clubs, engineering programs, and future industry leaders through STEM demonstrations, vehicle technology exhibits, and educational partnerships.
☀️ A platform where HopeKids children meet collectors, judge award-winning vehicles, and create lifelong memories.
☀️ A national model that other HopeKids chapters can replicate across the country.
☀️ A sustainable fundraising engine supporting HopeKids programs for years to come.
Cars for HopeKids has never been about building the biggest car show.
It has always been about building the strongest community. Every volunteer, sponsor, student, car enthusiast, and family helps create moments of joy for children who need them most.
In the end, success will never be measured by the number of Corvettes, Ferraris or Porsches on display.
It will be measured by the smiles created, the lives touched, those inspired to serve, and the HopeKids families reminded that they never have to face their journey alone.
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