Community shows up to put on car show for the children of Casa Pacifica

Camarillo, CA –  Saturday, August 8^th, over a hundred cars from all over the county showed up to Casa Pacifica’s Steven E. Elson Campus in Camarillo off Lewis Rd to put on a car show for the children living there. Individuals, as well as car clubs showed up including: Conejo Valley Model A Ford Club, Coachmen Car Club, Oxnard Police Department and DRAGG, Ventura Classic Car Club, Ventura Classics Car Club, Murphy Auto Museum, Conejo Valley Cars and Coffee, Barris Kustoms, and Europa Products. Youth played car bingo as the cars drove by – Model A’s, muscle cars, Ferraris, Porsches, a Lamborghini, a custom school bus, other vintage cars, and even motorcycles were among the participants on Saturday. Taco Bell of Newbury Park donated lunch for the youth to enjoy after the car show.

Longtime volunteer Roger Brooks, was instrumental in rallying community participation for the car show  and he voiced his amazement at the turnout. “Just to see so many car owners jump at the chance to make the kids happy, that’s what was great.” By Brooks estimate, there was at least $6 – $8 million dollars worth of cars that attended the parade on Saturday. “We were hoping for 30 cars – what a fantastic turn out! Almost guaranteed we will be doing something similar next year, and if allowed, a static show also,” said Brooks of the successful inaugural event.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to minimize risk of exposure for both youth and staff, youth living on campus have been unable to go on most of their normal off-campus outings. Recreation Therapy Supervisor, Amanda Martinez, “We’ve been brainstorming ways to bring the fun safely to campus. The car show was the perfect weekend event. The youth and staff had a great time watching the fleet of gorgeous cars parade through campus. Many youth had never had this experience before and were amazed by all the different types of cars.”

Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families is a crisis-care and residential treatment facility for foster or at-risk children in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Its mission is to restore hope, enhance resilience, and strengthen community connections for children, young adults and families at the most challenging times of their lives. The agency is the largest non-profit provider of children’s mental health services in both counties and administers ten community-based programs designed to strengthen families and keep children in their homes and communities. One of those community-based programs is their foster family agency, which recruits and trains families for potential placement with a foster youth. Camino a Casa by Casa Pacifica is a private insurance program designed to offer Casa Pacifica’s high-quality mental health services to private insurance youth. For more information about Casa Pacifica visit its website www.casapacifica.org or call the Development & Public Relations Department at (805) 445-7800.