Kymberly Kaslar, president and founder of Dreams and Drivers, an automotive-based charity, has known about the power of the car community since she was born. Her mother’s dedication to drag racing and the world of automobiles was an early influence on her, and she soon became a car enthusiast in her own right, embracing a love affair with all makes Italian. But when her local California car club, where she met her Dreams and Drivers co-founder and fiance, Josh Lindenmuth, made it clear that they weren’t interested in getting involved with charity organizations or giving back to their community, Kaslar knew she needed to make a change. 
In around 2009 her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, one of the three main causes, along with prostate cancer, and leukemia, as well as their annual veteran event, that Dreams and Drivers would go on to support. In 2011 she passed away.
“We picked [the causes] because of the people that touched our lives,” Kaslar says, referring not only to her mother, but a friend with a Bricklin, who passed from prostate cancer, as well as a close mentor who has been battling leukemia and lymphoma for more than 20 years. “We tried to do it through a local charity, so that we’re always helping somebody here.”
Throughout her time with the first club, Kaslar had gotten experiences doing communications, setting up events, and managing internal workings of a car club. She also had experience as a board member with Board of Directors of The Concours Foundation, was associated with the Niello Concours at Serrano, and worked as a member of board for the California Automobile Museum. Combining her skills with those of Josh Lindenmuth, who, along with his family, owns and operates Exotic Motorsports Garage in Sacramento, and is part of the Lamborghini Club and Concorso Italiano, as well as working with her to manage events for their former club, they had enough previous experience to seriously consider starting a club of their own.
“A whole bunch of people who I knew from the other club came to me and said ‘will you start a club’?” Kaslar says. “‘We would like to be able to give back to somebody else. So why can’t we do charity fundraisers around cars?’” In October of 2012 Dreams and Drivers was launched, with the goal to give back 100% of its profits, and with doors open to every any car enthusiast, from the Lamborghini Club to the Hot Rodders, and anyone in between.
The title came about because car enthusiasts have dream cars and they have daily drivers, and for a few lucky gearheads, those cars are one and the same. To the folks at Dreams and Drivers, however, it doesn’t matter what you drive up in, all are welcome.
“We needed to be a car club that invited everybody,” Kaslar says. “There are people that love their cars and it doesn’t matter that I don’t like it. It matters that they like it, and they continue to teach their children the way, and they continue to share with their friends.” She tells the story of a recent event where a woman spoke to her of the diversity, including a vast array of makes, models, and countries of origin.
“‘You’ve got everything together and everyone getting along,’ is how she worded it,” Kaslar says, just how she feels the company should be.
In addition to being open when it comes to cars, Dreams and Drivers strives to remain entirely transparent regarding their charities and donations. They are a 501(c)7 social awareness non-profit, and pay company and business expenses personally, working to ensure that all money raised by the car events goes to those who need it most. In addition to Kaslar and Lindenmuth, there is a board of two other, but for all involved, Dreams and Drivers remains a volunteer effort.
“We’ve got a fantastic group of volunteers and without them and without this board and the team that we have, we wouldn’t have anything,” Kaslar says, citing the support by Lindenmuth as one of the key factors of Dreams and Drivers’ success. “Without everybody supporting us and working with us, side by side, we would not be successful.”
And they have been successful. The Dreams and Driver’s total monetary donation since their launch has been more than $10,000, and continues to grow, as they take on more charities and large events. With the goal of helping local charities, in addition to their three main causes, Dreams and Drivers steps into help whenever possible.
Because they are still young, they must balance their own charity with others, but their work in California has covered many things, from organizing events for local charities, such as Friends of NICU, which supports families with babies in neonatal care, to simply posting to their Facebook page asking for cars to show up to a local or state charity car show.
They are also involved in helping local veterans, around which their upcoming April 19th car event, at their host, Royal Detail of Elk Grove, is centered. For that all day event they are partnering with the local Illuminati Motorcycle Club. The day will start with Dreams and Drivers, where they will kick off with high end raffles and a morning car show. Then they will caravan to the Illuminati club house, where there will be food trucks, live music, and vendors. The money raised throughout the day will go to a charity called Home for the Troops, who builds a house for a wounded veteran. This year they will be working with Christian Valle, a veteran with two prosthetic legs, who faces difficulty maneuvering his current home in his wheelchair. The project will be to remodel his home so that it is easier for him to get around, as well as play with his young children. 
Dreams and Drivers hosts their two largest charity events in April and June, which will see the pancreatic cancer fundraiser. Throughout the year they host free monthly Cars and Coffee events on the 3rd Sunday of every month from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m., and Show and Shines.
Each year has seen an increased turnout in cars, with an average of more than a 100 cars per event, and a high of around 180 and growing. They plan to stay in California until the organization has at least five years of experience, and then will plan to expand the company, starting with the east coast. For now, however, the focus is simply to see the car events grow, and continue to raise money for the charities they care so much about, an effort which has garnered incredible support from the car community.
“Nobody has anything bad to say,” Kaslar says. “ They like the idea that we give 100% of what we raise. They like the idea that it’s about cars.”
For information on how to get involved, emails Kym@DreamsandDrivers.com, or visit DreamsandDrivers.com for a full calendar of events, or like them on Facebook.
Images selected from the Dreams and Drivers Facebook Page.