An annual car show charity event that’s touched the lives of numerous local kids over the years is returning once again, this time to help a young Hecker girl who’s been battling leukemia for over a year.

The car show organizers are known as the Give Back Pack, and they’ve put together the event for the past 15 years in order to raise funds for sick children and their families.

This year’s event is being held in support of 4-year-old Ava Kern, who was originally diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in January 2022 and has been battling it ever since.

Ava’s mother, Angie Kern, said the first month was especially difficult, with Ava forced to spend that time at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

“After that month-long stay, then it was every week that we were heading back to Children’s for treatment,” Kern said, “and now we’re at the place in our treatment plan where it’s once a month that we head back, and then she does medicine every day at home.”

Her regular care now, Kern said, mainly involves chemo infusions and lumbar punctures.

Understandably, the diagnosis and care have been difficult for Ava and her family to handle over the last year and a half.

“It’s certainly been a challenge,” Kern said. “It’s nothing that any family ever expects to have to go through. Neither my husband nor I have any family history of pediatric cancers on either side, so it was extremely out of the ordinary for us, by all means.”

Despite the difficulties, Ava is still a little girl who can be plenty cheerful. Kern said her favorite colors are pink and purple, and she has a great affinity for Disney princesses – particularly Elsa.

As the middle child among the family’s three kids, Kern said Ava can be a bit sassy at times, but she’s still able to get along with her siblings.

“She’s done extremely well on treatment,” Kern said. “Most days you wouldn’t even know anything’s wrong. She’s running around playing with her sisters like a normal kid, which is the best that we can expect or hope for through all of it.”

Kern said Ava is also anticipating a trip to Disney World at some point in the future thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

More immediately, however, Ava is looking forward to Sunday’s car show, though she seems to be under the impression there will be a race in her honor.

Ava is the latest of over a dozen children to be recognized for the Give Back Pack charity car show.

John Moss, who founded the group with his wife Mary and continues to oversee it with the rest of the family, said the event consists primarily of basket raffles and, of course, a fairly standard auto show with a variety of years and models on display.

Moss said the support of event sponsors – including longtime sponsors Designs by Sebastian, Waterloo Automotive and Quality Auto Repair – allows the group to pass along all proceeds directly to the family.

Past events have been quite successful, with anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 raised for local youngsters in need.

“Car show people, I always say, are the most giving people around,” Moss said. “They show up for a charity show like this, and it just works.”

Both he and Kern said Ava was selected for this year thanks to a connection between Moss and one of Kern’s local relatives.

Moss expressed his encouragement for folks to come out to Sunday’s show, saying it’s for a good cause and can be fun regardless of one’s passion for cars.

“Even if they wanna come out and just look at the cars, bid on baskets… anything is a help,” Moss said. “Just to give a child that’s sick one good day of smiles goes a long way.”

While Ava and her family are generally excited for the event – as well as for the opportunity for Ava to pick out her favorite car during the show – Kern spoke to the feeling of community this sort of event brings.

She emphasized her gratitude for the show’s organizers as well as for those planning to attend, noting how impressive the support has been for kids in the past.

“We’re honored to be a part of the event this year,” Kern said. “It meant so much to us that they reached out wanting to help Ava. We appreciate the continued community support. It’s pretty remarkable what these types of situations can do to bring people together.”

The car show is this Sunday at West Park Bowl, 1101 Valmeyer Road in Columbia.

Registration for those wishing to participate in the show is $20 or $10 for just display and is open from 8 a.m. to noon.

For more information, visit the Give Back Pack Charity Car Show Facebook page.