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Exotic Car Toy Rally collects over 4,000 toys to benefit South Florida children

This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.
Photo Courtesy of Fred Burton
This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.
This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.
Photo Courtesy of Fred Burton
This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.

For nearly two decades, Fred Burton, a local entrepreneur, has brought together his love for exotic cars and his commitment to helping the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign for the less fortunate.

This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity by collecting more than 4,000 toys to benefit about 1,400 children in South Florida during the holidays, said Burton, who is the managing member of the South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally LLC.

In the past 19 years, the toy rally has collected more than 57,000 toys and raised more than $900,000 that were donated to the  Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.

“ It's a very unique event for the venues, attendees, sponsors [and] for the way it operates,” Burton said.

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The event was held on Dec. 14, featuring hundreds of exotic cars driven from the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino to Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale before ending at the Goodyear Airship facilities in Pompano Beach.

This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.
Photo Courtesy of Fred Burton
This year’s South Florida Exotic Car Toy Rally reported a record number of toys for the national charity.

It came the day after First Lady Jill Biden joined military families at the White House in Washington, D.C., to sort large piles of toys into boxes as part of the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign.

The White House is a longtime supporter of the program, which has been helping families for 77 years, said Lt. Gen. Leonard Anderson IV, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

“We’re making a significant impact right here in the nation’s capital, where these toys will go to kids in need,” he said at the White House event.

Last year, the program delivered over 25 million toys to more than 10 million children nationwide, he said. “This year we think we’re going to set another record, so we’re really excited,” Anderson IV said.

Burton and his exotic car rally in South Florida is part of the nationwide Toys for Tots campaign.

In an interview with WLRN, Burton talked about the history of the long-running charity and the role it plays in the lives of thousands of children.

WLRN: How did you come up with the idea of combining an exotic car procession with the Toys for Tots campaign?

Burton: Many years ago there was a similar event that was done by a bunch of motorcycle guys, Harley guys. And it was something that was pretty popular here in South Florida. And a bunch of friends and I — being car guys — we said, ‘Hey, we should start something like that for the exotic automobile world.’ And it just came about organically. And as we took the reins and ran with it, it grew exponentially into what it is today.

Why do you think the rally has been so successful over the years?

 I think there's a few reasons. I look at it as a win-win-win scenario. So the first is that the participants get to have a really good day as a private event for exotic car owners. It allows them to have a special day out with their family or friends [who] attend with them in the car and do good and give back to the community. The second is obviously the sponsors are anxious to be part of the event. It's a very unique demographic and target audience for them from a business perspective. But I think, most importantly, and I think what everyone understands is that the positive impact this has on so many thousands of children every holiday season is really something special and something for everybody to be proud of.

Can you talk about the importance of doing charitable work, being a volunteer in your local community?

Personally I have a very strong tie to doing charitable work. I grew up without in a lot of different ways, and so I spend quite a bit of my time doing charitable work for quite a few charities throughout the area. Because of my background and the needs that I had when I was younger and certain things that are close to me, it motivates me to give back. For the rest of the community, I think everyone has their own beliefs or what they feel is important to them, but I certainly believe with this event that really putting a smile on a child's face during the holiday resonates with everyone. I'm sure there's there's a lot of people that participate in and are involved in other charities, but this is one charity that brings us all together.

What does it mean to you personally to impact the lives of so many less fortunate kids during the holidays?

 I'm very proud of it. It makes me very happy. I don't have children of my own. And I remember as a kid growing up without certain things that people take for granted. And during the holidays is a special time. And the ability to give back and to put a smile on the face of a child during the holiday is really something that is absolutely amazing. And it makes me feel really good. To be able to be in a position to give back and make such a positive impact for the kids.

Ammy Sanchez is the Morning Edition producer for WLRN. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in communications from the Honors College at Florida International University.
Sergio Bustos is WLRN's Vice President for News. He's been an editor at the Miami Herald and POLITICO Florida. Most recently, Bustos was Enterprise/Politics Editor for the USA Today Network-Florida’s 18 newsrooms. Reach him at sbustos@wlrnnews.org
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