(WXYZ) — It's almost time for the public days to kick off at the Detroit Auto Show, but first, the annual Charity Preview will take place on Friday night.
WXYZ is proud to be the official broadcast partner of the Detroit Auto Show's Charity Preview, and you can watch our Red Carpet Charity Preview Special on Friday at 7 p.m.
This black-tie community event has raised more than $125 million for metro Detroit children's non-profits since it began in 1976. The beneficiaries for this year's Charity Preview are:
- The Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan
- C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
- The Children's Foundation
- Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation Fund
- Detroit PAL
- The Children's Center
I talked with the president of Mott Children's Hospital, who said each dollar they receive goes toward making their young patients smile.
"So if there's something that we can do to just let them smile, let them just be a kid again, we know that that's important to the healing process as well," Luanne Thomas Ewald, the president, said.
Ewald said the funds go towards things like medical research, innovation and clinical care. They also go toward making kids feel like kids.
"So, for example, we will buy iPads for the kid so the kids can stay in contact with their friends, with their schoolwork," Ewald said.,"We have teachers on staff that actually help the kids, so they don't get far behind."
The Charity Preview also has quite a night slated with performances by five-time Grammy nominee Robin Thicke and Detroit rapper Trick Trick.
Tickets are $400 for one or $700 for the pair, and a good portion of that ticket price can be deducted come tax time.
