A graffiti covered minivan was smashed for a good cause outside Knight Library Thursday night.
“We chose to do a car smash as a fundraiser because it was different from what most people do. It is a fun way for us and for others to enjoy while raising money for a good cause,” said Ariel Baner, a member of the Bright Knights cornerstone group.
The Bright Knights put on the car smash fundraiser in order to raise money for the Boys Town of Central Florida. The car was hit, slammed and smashed repeatedly from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and the motto of the night was “it’s for the kids.”
They charged $1 for one swing, $2 for three hits and $5 for a rampage. When asked what the group would qualify a rampage as David Castillo, another member, said it was thirty seconds of rampage against the vehicle.
A Bright Knights group member, Sean Hyatt, said he had actually thought of the idea of having a car smash event a while ago but the concept died down for some time after they found out they could not host it on campus.
“I actually brought it up,” Hyatt said. “I thought of it because my high school did something like that for a homecoming one year.”
After the group attended a meeting at Knight Library to talk about hosting the fundraiser there and got a permit, all they needed was a vehicle.
“We got it from a junkyard off Colonial,” Joshua Murray said. “Three of us went the other day and took out the windows. We had to use a hammer so it was fun.”
The group has decided that with the funds from the car smash they will take a group of 16 to 20 kids from the Boys Town of Central Florida to the Kennedy Space Center. The group saw this as a way for the kids to not only have fun but to also learn something.
“We saw this as the best opportunity. For the kids and for us because it’s fun,” Mark Witte said.
The car smash fundraiser was a success and the group plans to host an even bigger one in just a few weeks. They ended up raising over $200 and plan to raise even more at the comedy show they are hosting this Saturday at Taste.
“The night went really well,” Baner said. “Everyone there left with a big smile on their face. We had people from 10 years old to people in their 40s come out and hit the car. Overall we are very happy with our event and we are planning on doing a bigger and better car smash in a few weeks. Now we are focusing on the comedy show at Taste this Saturday.”
