From left, Der Kobblers Car Club members Sam Ognibene, Tom Davis, Colton Cappalino present a check for $2000 to Kerry Mihlko, a food and nutrition diabetes coordinator for UPMC-Jamestown, with other Der Kobblers Car Club members Addison Cappalino, James Cappalino and Bruce Macey. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

When the members of the Der Kobblers Car Club were looking for a place to donate they didn’t have to look very far.

Club members donated the proceeds from its latest car show to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – Jamestown’s Diabetes Education program (UMPC) at Jones Hill recently. Additionally, a second donation is set to be delivered to The Roswell Park Alliance Foundation on Wednesday.

“Every year we donate to UPMC’s Diabetes Educational program because several of our members have diabetes,” said Sam Ognibene, the car club’s treasurer. “Many of our past members have passed away from cancer, so we added the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation too.”

Representatives from UPMC were on hand to accept the ceremonial $2,000 check and said they are appreciative of the many years of collaborative support provided by the Der Kobblers Car Club.

“For 18 plus years the car club has made very generous donations to our diabetes education program,” said Kerry Mihlko, a food and nutrition diabetes coordinator for the medical center located at 51 Glasgow Ave.

Money raised for the donation stem from the Der Kobblers Car Club’s yearly car show held during Labor Day weekend. This year’s show took place at Midway State Park, 4859 Route 430 and had a reported large turnout.

“We had between 450 and 500 cars at the show this year,” Ognibene said. “We’ve been hosting our Labor Day show here for close to 17 to 20 years.”

Intermittently, the club’s show has changed locations during its two decade run.

Mihlko explained that the donations her department receives from the car club are used to purchase diabetes educational curriculum and presentation materials, along with items needed to enhance the educational component of the program.

Tom Davis, Der Kobblers Car Club member, talked about how the now 66-year-old car club has a few of the original members still active, and how some of them have beaten cancer and have dealt with diabetes.

“We have Jack Bell who’s in his late 80s still active and Bill Hazenberg – both original members,” said Davis. “The car club is like a family. It was founded in 1958, and a lot of our older members have passed away because of cancer. However, we have some members who have been able to ring the victory bell at Roswell.”

According to roswellpark.org, the tradition of ringing the Victory Bell is an important way to celebrate victories over cancer. The bell represents a different milestone for each patient. Some patients ring the bell after completion of chemotherapy or radiation. Others ring the bell after surgery. Many patients living with cancer ring the bell to signify their ongoing survivorship.

For more information on the Der Kobblers Car Club visit the car club’s Facebook page.