Ontarians can now proudly say they have helped to raise more than $1 million to support The Sunshine Foundation of Canada through the annual OARA Tire Take Back event. In its seventh year, the event organized by the dream tire collecting team – Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association (OARA) and OTS, in association with Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) – encouraged Ontarians to drop off their used tires at participating collectors across the province. In total over the last seven years, 458,185 tires have been collected, and an astonishing $1,060,306 has been raised.

This year, the 12-day tire recycling effort saw the enthusiastic collection of 64,623 tires, raising a grand total of $117,998! Once again, the money will help to fulfill the dreams of children living with severe disabilities or life-threatening illnesses across the province. In the friendly competition between Ontarian tire collectors, Early’s Auto Parts in Alliston came out on top this year, collecting 15,346 tires, resulting in $21,491 of the total funds raised for The Sunshine Foundation of Canada.

Each year, the Tire Take Back program helps children within Sunshine’s Ontario network live out once-in-a-lifetime experiences that may otherwise not have been possible, through the donation of all tire collection fees. Dreams like meeting their heroes, heading out on the trip of a lifetime, or in the case of 16-year-old Mackenzie from Amherstburg, ON, visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.