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BY HILLARY VIDERS
SPECIAL TO NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
CLOSTER, N.J.—On Sept. 29, the annual Joey’s Fund Car Show roared into Closter with brilliant color and style.
Close to 120 vintage, exotic and contemporary cars and trucks were on display outside St. Mary’s Church on Legion Drive.
The event supports Joey’s Fund, a New Jersey-based nonprofit dedicated to helping families with kids that have excessive medical expenses.
“Our assistance includes helping to pay utility bills, various living costs, direct medical costs, and other necessities that arise when kids get sick,” said Tony DeCarlo, founder and president of Joey’s Fund. “It is in my son Joey’s memory that we proudly operate this charity.”
DeCarlo said that the $15,000 this year’s show raised will be donated: $10,000 will go to St. Mary’s for renovating housing for special needs adults; and $5,000 will go to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Pediatric and Young Adult Care.
The car show is a splashy, fun-filled event that draws hundreds from all over the region. DeCarlo is assisted in the yearlong planning effort by his wife, Cathy, and the event is enhanced by outstanding coordinators Lisa Ballendorf, Lynn Werner Russo and numerous volunteers.
“My family and I started this fund in honor of our son Joseph DeCarlo, who passed away from cancer in 1986 at the age of 2-and-a-half,” said DeCarlo. “I was always interested in cars, so I combined this hobby with my wish to commemorate my son and to help others by creating a car show.”
The fund seeks to ease the challenges parents face when caring for a child afflicted by life-threatening illness, said DeCarlo, noting that there are many unforeseen costs.
“These financial burdens include expensive insurance co-pays, prescription drug fees, lost wages, gas, tolls, parking, food and many other daily expenses,” he said.
DeCarlo extended a special thank you to the Barbieri family “for the great job they did.”
At the event, people of all ages strolled through the show taking in the expansive vista of vehicles. A gleaming black 1934 Packard would win “Best in Show.”
“I bought it in 1963 from the original owner,” explained exhibitor Dave Czirr. “During its heyday, Packard was the car of choice for Hollywood celebrities, Arab sheiks, foreign embassies, even the White House. FDR was always photographed in a Packard.”
When asked how many miles per gallon the huge 1934 Packard averages, Czirr smiled and quipped, “Who cares?”
Admirably, over the years, thousands of other people have joined the DeCarlo family in paying it forward with their donations and participation.
“We have experienced the struggle and stress of this first hand and it is our turn to pay it forward,” said Tony DeCarlo.
Photos by Hillary Viders
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