Carl Fry jokes he has “a long history of wasting money on cars,” going back to 1956 when as a 16-year-old he joined a Wichita East High School car club called the Gear Gents.
In 2004, his love of cars and his connections to other car enthusiasts took a philanthropic turn as he organized a July 4th car show in downtown Wichita to benefit AbilityPoint, a service organization then known as The Arc of Sedgwick County that helps youth and adults with intellectual and development disabilities.
Over the next several years, he continued organizing annual fundraising car shows — sometimes as many as three a year — held in various locations throughout Wichita, including the Sedgwick County Zoo and Exploration Place.
By 2011, he was one of five local car guys who purchased the well-known annual car show that customizer Darryl Starbird had held in Wichita since 1957.
The buyers — Fry and his brother, John, father and son Tom and Tim Devlin and Dick Price — redeveloped the show into the major fundraising event of their nonprofit, Cars for Charities, with proceeds benefiting AbilityPoint and Starkey, another local nonprofit serving a similar population.
Through the years, Fry has shown some of his cars in the shows, including the 1965 Buick Riviera that was the first major purchase he and his wife, Bonnie, made when they got married in June 1966, a custom 1970 Chevy El Camino and Bonnie’s 1959 Nash Metropolitan they nicknamed Pinky because of the subcompact’s two-tone paint job.
The driving force
For Fry, now 84, the driving force behind organizing the car shows has been his daughter, Kimberly, who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome when she was born in 1978.
As a young teen, Stephanie started attending AbilityPoint’s Youth Education Summer Socialization Program (YESS) that helps avoid summer learning loss and continue skill development for students ages 5 through 21. She continues to attend programs and events run by AbilityPoint.
Stephanie also receives residential and transportation services through Starkey, which promotes the development and independence of adults living with intellectual disabilities.
“One of my personal goals is using the show as an opportunity to talk about the services available to the disabled community because of my daughter, her friends and others who are underserved,” Fry said. “I guarantee that the thousands of people who have come through the show now know about Starkey and AbilityPoint and can get help for their relatives or friends who need the services.”
“The reason the car show has grown to what it is is because of Carl,” said AbilityPoint executive director Kevin Fish. “It’s his heart and his passion that brings them in the door.”
The show — which takes over three exhibition halls in Century II and includes a free kids zone with activities ranging from face painting to jewelry making to building model cars and more — has raised as much as $150,000 in one year.
In 2021, when the car show was canceled because of the COVID pandemic, Cars for Charities raised $90,000 through an appeal campaign alone.
Leaving a legacy
In 2003, Carl’s wife, Bonnie, asked him to join her on the AbilityPoint board, which was planning to start an endowment fund, called the Legacy of Hope, through the Wichita Community Foundation. The foundation was offering a matching $200,000 grant.
One of “the big conversations” at the time, Fish said, was that the individuals AbilityPoint serves are living longer and their caregivers are aging as well.
“We wanted to have funds available to us to continue developing programs to meet the changing and future needs of our families,” he said. “We’re one of the few organizations who serve both youth and adults. … They never age out, so they really do transition with us.”
The car show has become the major fundraising vehicle for the endowment fund, which has generated more than $500,000 over the past 20 years for AbilityPoint programs and services.
The fund has helped AbilityPoint underwrite costs for 200 families who needed to establish legal guardianship of their adult children, hire staff who oversee the more than 60 schools and more than 2,800 students participating in the Circle of Friends mentoring program that matches special education students with regular education peers, and host events like its recent Thankful feast and dance that drew more than 1,100 clients and their families.
“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Fish said of the fund.
Fry’s interest in cars keeps going, too.
“I go to every swap meet I can because my goodness, I might find a muffler I need,” Fry said. “And I still putter around with cars, just not like I used to.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated Kimberly Fry’s first name and the first year of the Cars for Charities Rod and Customs Car Show. It was 2004.
Contact Amy Geiszler-Jones at algj64@sbcglobal.net.
Car show and swap
The next Cars for Charities Rod and Customs Charities Car Show runs from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, in Century II, 225 W. Douglas. General admission tickets are $18 for adults, $17 for military and seniors, $10 for ages 12-17, and free for kids 11 and younger. Tickets may be purchased through Select-A-Seat online (selectaseat.com) or its box office inside Intrust Bank Arena. Discounted tickets are available through Wichita area QuikTrip stores. Proceeds will benefit AbilityPoint and Starkey. More information is available online at carsforcharitiesshow.com.
Cars for Charities also organizes a car swap meet to benefit AbilityPoint. The Kansas Sunflower Swap Meet is scheduled for 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, March 7, and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at Century II. Admission is $10, free for kids 11 and younger.
