Members of the Ohio Cobra Club take personal pride in the dramatic improvement in the health of Hilliard resident Emily Kerr.
“With the success of that little girl, we feel like we did something — like we actually contributed,” said Nick Zeyen, 65, a club member and North Side resident.
What the club of Cobra sports-car enthusiasts has done is raise more than $1 million for research to combat cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that seriously challenged Kerr until 2012 — when, at age 15, she began taking the newly approved Kalydeco.
The drug virtually stopped the progression of the disease — which causes mucus buildup in the lungs and digestive system — and allowed Kerr to become much more active.
The youngest of Bruce and Lynn Kerr’s three children is a cheerleader at the University of Dayton (where she is a rising junior, majoring in early-childhood education) and last year went on a mission trip to the southern African country of Zambia.
“It has basically reversed everything for me,” said Kerr, 20. “Their work has literally changed the future. ... It’s amazing. It’s something you can’t explain.”
Most of the money donated by the club is raised through a year-round sale of raffle tickets ($20 apiece) for the chance to win a new Cobra at the annual London (Ohio) Cobra Show, which this year will take place on Saturday.
The club grew out of an informal gathering of Cobra enthusiasts in 1999 in London, where a former member owned a shop that produced make-your-own Cobra kits.
Cobras, originally produced on a limited basis in the 1960s, were known for their extreme power in a small, light sports car. The cars are no longer in production, but several companies sell kits, or partial cars, that enthusiasts can finish on their own.
“It has basically reversed everything for me,” said Kerr, 20. “Their work has literally changed the future. ... It’s amazing. It’s something you can’t explain.”
Most of the money donated by the club is raised through a year-round sale of raffle tickets ($20 apiece) for the chance to win a new Cobra at the annual London (Ohio) Cobra Show, which this year will take place on Saturday.
The club grew out of an informal gathering of Cobra enthusiasts in 1999 in London, where a former member owned a shop that produced make-your-own Cobra kits.
Cobras, originally produced on a limited basis in the 1960s, were known for their extreme power in a small, light sports car. The cars are no longer in production, but several companies sell kits, or partial cars, that enthusiasts can finish on their own.
I'm not going to say it’s a cult, but if you have the bug, you have the bug,” Zeyen said. “It’s my ‘happy’ car.”
The show expanded quickly, drawing thousands of people and hundreds of Cobras.
Seeing an opportunity to raise money for charity, the club members chose cystic fibrosis as a beneficiary because Dave Smith, owner of one of the major kit-making companies, had a daughter with the disease.
Each year, club members use part of the raffle proceeds to buy a Cobra kit, which they use to build the giveaway car. (Kits start at about $25,000 and can run up to $100,000, members say.)
Emily’s ties to the club date from 2004, when she was a sickly 7-year-old and the group was presenting its first check to the central Ohio chapter of the CF Foundation. The club had reached out to the chapter seeking a Columbus-area family to participate in the show. Emily drew the winning ticket — an honor she continues to perform.
Leslie Lucas, executive director of the CF Foundation’s central Ohio chapter, said the Ohio Cobra Club is one of just two donors that has topped $1 million in contributions to the chapter (the other is the Hennessey family of Upper Arlington).
The club reached the milestone after the 2015 show and is now at $1.125 million — money designated specifically for research.
“They’ve really made a huge impact,” Lucas said. “They’re a special group, for sure.”
Brian Freer, a Powell resident and the club vice president, said seeing Emily Kerr’s improvement has motivated members to continue their fundraising efforts.
“It has been a labor of love,” Freer said.
Bruce Kerr said he has been “overwhelmed” by the club’s devotion to the disease in general and his daughter in particular. Members treat her like family, he said, having sent stuffed animals to her when she was younger and in the hospital, and always greeting her with hugs and well-wishes.
“It would take a lot of fundraising walks and an enormous amount of bake sales to raise a million dollars,” Mr. Kerr said. “From a dad’s perspective, I give thanks every single day that these men and women do what they do.
“I’m eternally grateful.”
By: Ken Gordon
kgordon@dispatch.com
@kgdispatch
Above was taken for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch Newspaper – June 20, 2017
Emily Kerr with Ohio Cobra Club members, from left: Roy L. Edgar, Mark G. McKimmins, Dave Beck, George Daulton, Brian Freer and Mark Braden
Photograph by Fred Squillante/Dispatch
Members of the Ohio Cobra Club take personal pride in the dramatic improvement in the health of Hilliard resident Emily Kerr.
“With the success of that little girl, we feel like we did something — like we actually contributed,” said Nick Zeyen, 65, a club member and North Side resident.
