Timonium Car Show Raises $25,000 for Christmas Charity

David Cohen's bright red Marine Corps baseball cap was certainly the right color, although it would have been fitting if it also had some fluffy white trim and a matching fuzzy white ball.

Cohen, a Timonium resident, played Santa over the weekend as his 22nd annual East Coast Indoor Nationals car show raised $25,000 and 1,000 toys for the Toys For Tots Foundation, the familiar holiday charitable effort sponsored by the United States Marine Corps.

"We always raise our goals in sales and marketing to the next level," Cohen said. "For me, we had to exceed last year's number by a good margin. A 25 percent growth in a lousy economy is pretty ... significant." 

through donations and raffles during the two-day event.  Toys For Tots collects money and unwrapped toys that are distributed on Christmas to under-privileged children who wouldn't receive a gift otherwise.

"We couldn't be happier. We had the best show we've ever had, the most people we've ever had, the highest quality cars and motocycles that we've ever had—we were so far ahead we couldn't even imagine it. ... We never dreamt it would be that much," Cohen said.

Cohen partnered with Toys for Tots because he is a former Marine and because "they work hard" for the charity.

"These guys, my brothers—because you're a Marine until you die—I knew they had discipline, they care, and it's a great charity. All the money goes to the kids," Cohen said.

Staff Sgt. Johnny Kline, the regional coordinator for Toys For Tots, almost became emotional while addressing several hundred car enthusiasts at the close of the car show at the .

"Just to know that there are people out there are willing to help the kids—without them we wouldn't be able to do it. That's why it really touched me," Kline said. "Two days, collecting $25,000 and 1,000 toys, it says a lot about the people—especially the car club community."

Kline said he has scheduled 50 more Toys For Tots charity events between now and Dec. 20 in order to meet the 70,000 toy request this year. As of Friday, the Marines had collected 18,000.

In its 22 years, the East Coast Indoor Nationals car show—one of the largest in the mid-Atlantic—has raised close to a million dollars from attendees for children, according to Cohen.