CHAMPAIGN, ILL. (WCIA) – Curbing violence in Central Illinois takes multiple solutions. It’s not easy to do, but one mother and son duo is taking it upon themselves to overcome that challenge. Together, Burnette Lowe and her son Conterrio Brown came up with an idea to run a car show, and has been doing so for the past six years.
“A car show is something that I always wanted to do,” Brown said. “Around the time that we started, there was a whole bunch of violence. So I decided that I wanted to do a car show. So, my mother took it on and hit the ground running.”
Together, they decided to call it the “Stop The Violence Car Show”. The purpose of the event is to give the youth a hobby, especially those who are not interested in sports.
“There are some great engineering programs through Parkland and the University [of Illinois],” Lowe stated. “And so we just feel like it was something that they can do, take a hobby, do something different, show some positivity, have a goal.”
This year, the event is taking place at Dodds Park in Champaign. The event starts at noon on August 16th. Registration is $20 and anyone with a car can stop by and register at the event. There will be judges and winners can take home trophies.
They both believe that the event is great for the entire family, not just the kids.
“They’ll see some nice cars, some nice rims, nice colored paint, some loud music.” Brown stated. “It’s a family atmosphere.”
Cars are not the only thing kids can expect. There will also be a backpack giveaway and two $500 scholarships for students graduating from high school.
Overall, the main goal of the event is to give back to the community while also having some fun.
There is especially one message that Lowe wanted kids to know. “You can work on something different, you can do something different.”