For the sixth annual Motoamoré—an automobile and rock 'n' roll-themed fund-raiser for the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation and designed as a tribute to Rob Muzzo—organizers held a car rally and gala dinner at Downsview Park on June 6 and a track day at Mosport International Raceway last Thursday.
"It started because my brother was diagnosed with bladder cancer at Princess Margaret Hospital," said Marc Muzzo, chair of the Muzzo Family Charitable Foundation. "When he was still around we decided we wanted to give back to the hospital. So we organized Motoamoré, which was basically a day similar to this. It was a track day. Nobody in my family were golfers so we weren’t doing a golf tournament."
Muzzo said the family, which is prominent in the city's development industry, knew a lot of people who owned a lot of nice cars, but not all of them knew how to handle them at high speeds. "We brought in professional drivers to coach the people on how to drive the cars," he said of the event, which was held at the race track for the first four years. To mark the fifth anniversary in 2008, Devan, the event planning firm that manages the fund-raiser, changed the format to include a gala dinner at a separate venue.
"Last year we did a two-part event and it was successful, so that's why we did it again this year," said Cathy Muffolini of Devan. "The track day has been the foundation of the event, but all of the guys wanted a party." Cathy and her sister Elvira D'Avanzo transformed Downsview Park's Studio 1 into a rock 'n' roll-themed space for the benefit, which was attended by more than 500 guests.
"We created an entrance with mirrors and drapery; we created an exotic car lounge; we had roller-skate girls, and we created a food boutique with some of the city's top caterers. Sass Jordan, Rex Goudie of Canadian Idol, and Valerie Stanois of We Will Rock You performed for guests. Earlier that day, 30 attendees participated in a three-hour car rally and scavenger hunt throughout the city.
On Thursday, 15 participants raced the Mosport track in Ferraris, Corvettes, and Porsches. "It’s always been an invitation-only event," Muzzo said of the track day. "It’s an event honouring my brother Robert. So we’ve always tried to keep it between friends, family, and associates who knew him. He never raced but he got me into cars. We grew up with the passion of automobiles, and this was just something different that I don’t think had really been done."
The benefit, which raised money for Princess Margaret Hospital for the first five years, is now directing proceeds to the surgical innovation program at Toronto General, also part of the University Health Network. To date, more than $1.5 million has been donated to the hospitals.
Event sponsors included CGC, Dufferin Concrete, ISCA, OZZ Electric, Watson Building Supplies, Clare Interior Supplies, Aspen Ridge Homes, The Brand Factory, Rogers, Tamarack Lumber Inc., Newport Partners, Metro Carpentry, Toro Aluminum, Multiseal Waterproofing & Paving, TD Commercial Banking, Enbridge, Sterling Tile, Regal Crest Homes, Cervini, Home Lumber Inc., Advance Tile, Unitec Industrial Gases, Coco Group of Companies, OAS, and CoolTech.
