Welcome to the 2023 H4H-KWCS Rally!
Everything you need to know about Today
We Appreciate you.
Welcome to Horsepower for Hope 2023, our 5th year, in support of the Kids with Cancer Society!
Today, we gather as a community that cares…a community that supports a very special and important charity. The Horsepower for Hope car community exists solely to support the Kids with Cancer Society. This is YOU, and we thank you. With your help, over the past 4 years, we’ve raised over $1.5 Million dollars for the KWCS, and most importantly, with very little cost! Our goal, and commitment to you and our sponsors, is that we do EVERYTHING in our power to keep our costs as LOW as possible, so that most, if not all of the proceeds go straight to the charity! In the past four years, our TOTAL expenses for the $1.5M raised has been less $15,000. This is ONLY possible with the help of our generous sponsors. If you see them today, or visit their booth, PLEASE say thank you!
Please enjoy the rally, the afternoon events, the company of your fellow drivers, and thank you for joining us this year, and for your generous support!
Your Host Families for 2023
Every year, we introduce you to different Host Families, who share their personal stories on how childhood cancer has affected them. Families like theirs are the reason we are all so thankful for your participation in today’s event, and hope to have you coming back to support year after year.
Meet Ezreck
Ezreck is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma August 11, 2021.
He has a passion for Lego and his collection is always growing. Ezreck enjoys biking, scooter rides, swimming, playing with friends, and weekend trips to nanny and pops house.
Ezreck is a gentle, old soul. He is one of the politest kids and always gets commended for his manners. Naturally he’s a caregiver and loves helping others and brightening their day. He will go out of his way to make you smile.
“Ezreck’s treatment is 66 weeks long, just over a year. KWCS has been amazing. From the very start, with the backpack, gift cards, paying for parking, offering art courses and interacting with the kids over the pandemic. It never stops, in a good way. – Ezreck’s mom
Meet Everett
Everett was diagnosed with a brain tumour in July 2016. During his initial hospital stay, a social worker connected our family with The Kids with Cancer Society (KWCS). During that summer we visited the KWCS house and met with some of the staff as well as families in various stages of their journey.
“Everett had an opportunity to attend a summer camp with medical staff to provide treatment/medication at the camp. It was a huge blessing for him to have a chance to be in a place with other children doing regular kid stuff in a safe environment. KWCS also provided parking passes for our family during the many hospital stays during the first year. In 2021 Everett had tumour reoccurrence and we found ourselves in the same position again and again KWCS was there to provide support.”
Kids with Cancer society has provided many different types of support through Everett’s diagnosis, and treatment. Even to this day our family receives support through Brainworks with support for Everett’s education and understanding of latent affects of Cancer.
What to Expect Today.
In short, your day consists of a morning Rally that will go until about 12:30 PM, and afterwards, you’ll return to the Expo Centre for fun-filled afternoon of awesome static displays, a family friendly kid zone, food trucks, good music, and of course, the EPS hosted Autocross Track.
Morning Rally Format:
- There are a total of 150 cars, split into 15 groups of 10 cars
- You will depart WITH your team, and you will be visiting SIX stops this morning
- Your FIRST stop is located on the back of your Lanyard
- At each location, you will receive a stamp for your passport (included with your Lanyard)
- Once you are done at your stop (max 15-25 min), you will be provided your NEXT location
- Once you are done ALL 6 locations, you will head back the Expo Centre for afternoon fun!
So you want to track your car? Here's What you what you need to know.
After you’ve parked up in the Horsepower Alley for the afternoon, you’ll want to pay attention to the announcements by the DJ. We will be calling out track groups throughout the afternoon for your turn to line up and get some runs in.
Once your group is called, you’ll line up and we will have volunteers directing you to the start line and advising you when to go. If you enjoy the competition, we will be keeping track of the time per lap for each vehicle.
If you are a Kidz Cruiser, please take note of any of our KWCS children lining up to hop into your passenger seat when you go on the track. Our volunteers will be helping guide the kids into your vehicle while you’re stopped waiting for your turn to make the track hot!
Yes, there are Prizes!
We couldn’t do this without giving a little something back to you guys, could we?! We have some really cool prizes lined up and will be given away for a couple of categories. As stated before, one prize is drawn based on the entries you earned through your Driver’s Pages, but there will also be some from the rally today.
Here’s what you need to know to win:
In your lanyard, you’ll have a stamp card. You’ll get a stamp at each rally stop for completing the task there. You won’t want to dilly-dally, because if you’re too slow, you won’t make it to all stops, hindering your chance at a win.
There will be BONUS stamps given. One way you can get these is by visiting our vendor booths in the afternoon. Some will have bonus stamps, some won’t… you’ll have to find out by visiting them and thanking them for being our sponsors!
Another bonus is given to anyone who happens to have a rubber duck (even a drawing of a rubber duck will do) that can hand it to a fella named Nick Bodnar (many people participating today will know him and can direct you to him) – except this bonus is just a crisp high five because his reaction will be GOLDEN.