The “Girly” Vette with a Heart of Gold

Kimberly Castendyk’s “girly” Corvette came to be in 2003 when she got her 2002 Millennium Yellow coupe and placed a Florida State Wildflower tag on it. The flower theme came from her desire to use her Corvette for children’s charity events. The flowery theme includes Coreopsis (Florida’s State Wildflower), butterflies and ladybugs. Locally, Kim is very active in children’s charity events throughout the year. Naturally, this “flower themed” Corvette attracts girls, who normally might not be interested in cars.  Much like the flowery paint scheme, which depicts butterflies being attracted to flowers, Kimberly’s Corvette attracts the children at all the car shows she attends.

       

Kimberly always lets the children climb in to take a picture, or just sit in her Corvette.  When her local Corvette club, Tampa Bay Vettes adopted children for the holidays Kimberly gives several girls a ride.   

Since 2006, Kimberly has been driving her “flower themed” Corvette from Florida to Memphis TN for the official check presentation for Corvettes for St.Jude. This annual event is held on Columbus Day at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

During this event the children are allowed to get in the Corvettes, touch them, and do what ever their little hearts desire. The children’s favorite things to do are honk the horns and pretend they are driving the Corvettes. It is amazing when you can see that a child is weak and does not feel well, but they put all their energy into getting into one of the Corvettes and then the biggest smile comes across their sweet face. Along with the smiles from the children and their parents, there are also tears of joy from the parents, siblings and Corvette owners.During the event Corvette owners are also offered a tour of the hospital, where every year the parents thank the Corvette owners for making their kid smile.

Over the last 9 years Corvette owners have managed to raise over $580,000 for the children of St Jude Children's Research Hospital. These generous donations have helped to find new treatments for childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
Corvettes for St.Jude is in its 10^th year of fund raising. In 2012 the organization is honoring Evan Thomason. Evan Thomason was 10-years-old when he lost his battle against cancer on 2011. While the medical and research staff at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was not able to save Evan, they managed to give him five years he might not have otherwise had with family and friends. With the blessing of his mom Melissa, Corvettes for St. Jude will dedicate its fund raising efforts for St. Jude during 2012 to the memory of Evan, who touched so many people with his courage, positive attitude and joy for living.

Donations can be made to Corvettes for St. Jude in several ways. Please Visit CorvetteForum.com for all donations options.