Getting a large number of Mustangs to congregate in one area is a pretty special feat. But to accomplish that and have charity involved? Well, that just makes it even sweeter. Such was the case recently at the sixth annual DaSilva Racing SickKids Charity Open House in Pickering, Ont.

The event is put on by Joe DaSilva’s auto shop, which specializes in Ford vehicles, namely Mustangs. The 2013 edition saw more than 1,500 people gather at the DaSilva Racing headquarters, along with over 150 cars. It managed to raise a whopping $18,000 for the Hospital for Sick Children – a vast increase over the $13,000 raised last year.

Familiar Faces

We were delighted to see plenty of familiar faces at the event.

Mike Holmes, the well-known Canadian contractor/TV host, arrived to the event in style in his Mustang Boss 302 to meet and sign autographs for fans. He shared how his own granddaughter spent time at SickKids and gave his thoughts to the crowd on the importance of supporting the hospital and the work they do.

Al Tucci, an announcer who’s better known as “The Voice” of the drag racing world, made a special trip from Chicago to work the crowd and MC the event. As well, Yves Ouellette was the DJ. (You might remember Ouellette as the Green Mustang owner, or from the Whitby, Ont., Cruise-Ins.)

Weslee Sighting!

Another familiar – and adorable – face was that of Weslee Brinn, whose inspirational story has been told on the Ford Blog in the past. The 4-year-old Mustang super fan, who suffers from a congenital heart disease, was selected by the DaSilva Racing team as their 2013 SickKids ambassador. In our opinion, they could not have made a better choice.

In addition to the $18,000 that was raised at the event, $2,000 in contributions was raised and donated to Weslee’s family. This generous act was something that touched DaSilva. He shared with us his reasons for hosting the annual event.

“People ask me why I do (the event),” he said. “I do it for friends of mine who’ve had their kids at SickKids. … We love raising money for them.”

It really was a perfect day filled with remarkable people who we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the past year on the Blog. We were thrilled to be part of such an event where generous, hard-working people came together to make a difference.

Check out the video and let us know your thoughts.