Charity Week Roundup

The past week and a half have been pretty busy for us on the charity front. 

We filmed the Neighborhood Cruisers annual charity car show "Cruisin for Kids" on August 6th. Next, I headed down to Times Square on the 10th to document the third annual Pertussis Awareness Day for the March of Dimes. Rounding out the week, Kristen and I filmed and photoged the Awards Ceremony at Gennaro's Restaurant as the Neighborhood Cruisers handed out the proceeds to this year's families.

Getting ready to film the opening ceremonies.

On August 6th, at North Rockland High School, the Neighborhood Cruisers held their tenth annual "Cruisin for Kids" charity car show. The money raised at this event is given to three local families who are in need of help, due to the rising cost of medical care and the financial burden that comes with having a child with special needs.

It was at this event that we met Evan Sugrue, an eight year old who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Evan has a smile that can light up a room and a sense of determination that is contagious and admirable. More on Evan later.

Early Thursday morning (apparently there's also a 4 in the morning, I thought it only happened in the afternoon) I headed into New York City to document the third annual "Pertussis Awareness Day". I spent the day with my favorite medical director, Dr. Alan Fleischman (March of Dimes) and NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, as the two stars preached the importance of making sure adults got their TDAP booster shot, to avoid transmitting Pertussis to a newborn child.

Perri Tussis, in the flesh, err.. fuzz.

I have to admit, selfishly, the reason I wanted to film this event had to do with the fact that I got to meet one of my personal heroes. 

Not Jeff Gordon, but the one and only Perri Tussis. Perri is the Sounds of Pertussis campaign mascot. He's a huge Twinkie with those fuzzy bacteria things on it's side.

If you look up awesome in the dictionary, Perri's portrait shows up.

Finishing up "Charity Week", Kristen and I headed over to Gennaro's Restaurant to film and Photog the Neighborhood Cruisers check presentation ceremony. This year, the families were presented with checks for $7,000 (each). The Cruisers were disappointed that, due to the current economy, they couldn't give more. 

In my humble opinion, $7,000 in any type of economy is a blessing, so I don't think they have anything to worry about.

© Matthew Brown Rockland Journal News

While at the Cruise Night, I got to meet Matthew Brown, a photojournalist for the Rockland Journal News and LoHud.com. We talked shop for a while and Matthew took some great photos of the event, which you can see here.

Matthew also snapped a photo of Evan and I, as we went over how to operate the Panasonic HMC-150 HD Video Camera. Like I said earlier, Evan has the ability to melt anyone's heart. I was instantly drawn to Evan's curious nature and his amazing spirit.

A very special thanks to my wonderful wife and co-owner of Little Guy Productions, Kristen Lima. Kristen took some great shots at "Cruisin for Kids" and at the Cruise Night.