Fully Involved Events: Jeremy Parnell’s Mission to Unite the Car Community for a Greater Cause
- Angel Rogers
- Nov 13, 2024
- 11 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2024
When Jeremy Parnell’s cousin’s son, Cole, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, Jeremy knew he had to take action. With limited resources but a strong belief in the power of community, Jeremy turned to his passion for cars and his involvement with the Mizfitz of the Upstate Car Club to organize a car show fundraiser. That single event marked the beginning of Fully Involved Events, a purpose-driven organization founded on the idea that car enthusiasts can do more than just share their love of vehicles—they can make a lasting impact on their communities.
From car shows to food drives, Jeremy has grown Fully Involved Events into an organization that bridges the gap between automotive passion and charitable outreach, raising tens of thousands for those in need. In this interview, Jeremy shares the story of Fully Involved Events, its most memorable moments, and the driving mission that keeps it growing year after year.
1. Tell us about the story behind Fully Involved Events. How did the idea of combining car meets with charity fundraising come about?
We got our start in 2020. My cousin’s son, Cole, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer. I knew that I didn’t have any money to help that, but I did know that the car community is capable of amazing things when they come together. I am part of the Mizfitz of the Upstate Car Club, and I mentioned to the admins my idea about a car show. They told me that we could try it. We had 56 cars registered that night and raised $2,700 for Cole’s family. After that, I was asked to plan another show for a member’s mother who had mouth cancer. We as a club made a decision to host 3 charity shows in 2021. After the 3 shows that year, I was told that we were doing good with the shows. I had the idea of trying to turn it into a business. We have now hosted over 50 events including car shows, cruise ins, trunk or treats, vendor fairs, a battle of the food trucks, a charity softball tournament, 2 school supply drives, a fishing tournament and marathon, and toy drives.
2. What is the main mission of Fully Involved Events, and how does it connect with the automotive community?
The main mission of Fully Involved Events is to provide the best event possible, no matter what. We are an event planning, wedding planning, wedding officiant and DJ company.
It connects to the automotive community because we host car shows and charity car shows. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our shows and make them more enjoyable for those who attend and raise the most money possible.
3. Can you share any memorable moments from past charity car meets? Are there specific causes or charities that are especially close to your heart?
My favorite moments from charity car shows are seeing the face of the person or group we are helping when they see how much money we have raised. One of the most memorable moments was from the Cole’s Victory Lap Memorial Show in 2021. We were raising money for a 2-year-old boy named Jacob Conger. Jacob was an amazing little boy and seeing how much he enjoyed the show and how much fun he had was awesome to see.
The cause and charity that we help that means the most to me is Cole’s Victory Lap. This 501c3 foundation was formed after Cole Henderson, my cousin’s son, after he passed away in 2021. Cole’s Victory Lap is a charitable organization whose goal is to make the journey of pediatric cancer more bearable for the children, families and caregivers. They do this by providing snacks, drinks, sheets, in-room entertainment and professional photography. They are currently in 5 hospitals in South Carolina and one in Georgia.
4. How do you select the charities or causes you support for each event? Do you involve the car community in choosing where the funds go?
We have 3 main charity shows every year that we partner with the Mizfitz of the Upstate to host. The first is the Warfield’s Prime Units Memorial Show. This show is named in honor of Tyler Warfield. Tyler was a firefighter who passed away in 2021 in a motorcycle accident on his way from his full-time department to his part-time department. Myself and the other co-founder of Fully Involved Events are both full-time firefighters and we worked with Tyler. With this show, we help fire departments with Explorer programs and vocational schools with firefighter programs. We alternate between them each year. In 2025, we will be helping the Donaldson Center Vocational Firefighter program.
The second show is Cole’s Victory Lap Memorial Show. We partner with Cole’s Victory Lap to find a child with some form of pediatric cancer that we can help every year.
The third show is Mizfitz for Military. We partner with Upstate Warrior Solution to find a Veteran in need that we can help. We love this show and helping Veterans in need because we are a Veteran-owned company.
It will be the 5th Annual show for each of these shows in 2025.
We are always open to suggestions for the car community for shows where we can help those who need it. We have partnered with the Breakin’ Necks Blacklist Outlawz car club for 3 charity shows. We have had other shows suggested to us by members of the car community such as the Rides for a Rebuild show we did in April of 2023 to help a family who lost their house in a fire and All the Smoke show that we did in January of this year that help Mr. Michael Buggables who was suffering from stage 5 Parkinson’s and MSA. We also were hired to host 2 charity shows this year, one for kids for Christmas in Pickens county and one for Battle Buddies of the Carolinas which helps pair service dogs with Veterans with PTSD.
5. What are some of the unique car-related activities you organize at these meets? Are there specific events, competitions, or features that participants look forward to?
In 2023 and 2024, we had a club participation award. This award was given to the club that had the most members registered. We are hosting a Christmas Village and toy drive on November 24th and there will be an award given for the club that donates the most toys.
At a lot of our shows, we have a silent auction, and we try our best to have items that interest and appeal to members of the car community.
We are looking to add more things to our shows next year. We would love suggestions from your members of things that they would like to see at our shows.
6. How do you manage event logistics to make these car meets both fun and safe?
That is one of the biggest challenges that we face. We work hard to create fun and safe events. We have several people who help us with these events to keep them running smoothly. I have people who help with registration, parking, silent auction and anything else that we have at events. Having people we trust to handle these responsibilities help me to put on a better event. If you have ever been to one of our events, you will see me running around all over the place to make sure everything is running correctly. It usually takes 2-3 months to plan a car show the right way. I have had a hand in over 30 car shows since 2020 and I am still learning better ways to do things. I learned to make a checklist for the things that need to be done before the show and a checklist for the day of the show. That is the only way I am able to keep things organized and make sure we have everything done.
7. What role does the local business community play in your events? Are there ways local businesses can partner with you or provide sponsorships?
Local businesses play a big role in our events. In 2024, we went from 5 classes for each of our 3 charity shows to 9 classes. We offered sponsorships for each of these classes. These sponsorships helped us to be able to provide additional things at these shows. Some of our trophies are donated, but we have to purchase about half of them. This year we added a bounce house at the Warfield’s Prime Units Show and a dunk tank at the Cole’s Victory Lap Show. We want to be able to add even more to these shows next year.
We added these sponsorships because before that I was paying for everything out of pocket and not taking back the money I spent on the show, and it got very expensive very quickly.
We are working on adding opportunities to sponsor Fully Involved Events and opportunities to sponsor specific events in 2025.
For any local business that wants to partner with us or provide sponsorships, please reach out to us. We would love to work with you.
8. How can people in the Selfvation community participate in Fully Involved Events? Are there volunteer or sponsorship opportunities?
We love to have people in the Selfvation community participate in events that Fully Involved Events host. The easiest way to find out about our events is on Facebook. Our Facebook page is Fully Involved Events Upstate.
The biggest thing we are looking for as far as volunteers is judges who can be impartial. We can always use volunteers to help us with events. We can never have too much help.
We have sponsorship opportunities for the year and for specific events.
9. What advice would you give to other car enthusiasts or clubs who want to start charity-driven events in their areas?
Charity car shows are so much fun and the joy you get from the end result is amazing. It is hard work and takes a lot more time than you think it would. If you have a desire to start charity-driven events, reach out to people and learn from them. Research events in your area and areas similar to yours to find out what works and what you can expect. If your first event is not a success, don’t give up. We have had some events that were failures. Sometimes no matter what you, it just won’t be the success that you expect it to be. Just keep pushing and you will see results.
10. What has been the impact of these events on the community? Have you seen any lasting changes or positive effects beyond the funds raised?
There has been a large impact on the community because of these events. We invite the news media out to the main 3 charity shows that we do every year and I usually end up being interview by at least one of them. As I have mentioned in multiple interviews, the car community is viewed by many as a group who doesn’t know how to act and are reckless due to the actions of a few. I think the shows we do and other shows like them help show the overall community what the upstate car community is actually about. I think that it is a good thing that the general public is able to see the car community stepping up and helping those in need. It sheds a good light on us.
We have built great relationships that we never would have had without these kinds of events. I personally have built relationships with small businesses, large businesses, news media personnel, community members and managers and staff at some of the venues we have held events at.
11. Looking ahead, do you have any new goals or plans for Fully Involved Events? Are there any special events or new initiatives that you’re excited about?
We are looking to add some new things to offer. Some of the things we are wanting to offer are related to our car events and some are related to the other types of events we do. We want to continue to grow, and I would love to be able to take Fully Involved Events full-time. One of my biggest goals is to continue to grow our car shows to where we average 100 or more per show. It would help us be able to donate even more money to those who truly need it.
So far since the first show in 2020, we have donated $57,846 to those who need with our charity car shows and other events that we have done for those in need. That averages out to $11,569.20 a year. I would love to see that number grow to $15-20,000 per year.
One of the events that I am most excited about is our annual Battle of the Food Trucks. We hosted the first Battle of the Food Trucks last year. We wanted to host the 2nd Annual this year, but we ran into some roadblocks at the venue we wanted to do it at. Last year, we had over 30 food trucks and a great crowd. I love seeing people trying some of these amazing food trucks that they have never heard of.
Another event that I am looking forward to bringing back next year is the School Supply Drive. I got very busy this year and we didn’t do it. I want to bring it back next year and make it the biggest one we have done yet.
Looking well into the future, I want to create a one-of-a-kind event venue to be able to host all events. Car shows both indoor and outdoor, concerts, sports, weddings, small business vendor events, and much more. I already have a rough idea of the layout that I would like for it.
12. How did you first hear about Selfvation, and what are your thoughts on our car community and mission? Are there any aspects of Selfvation that stand out to you or align with your own values?
I don’t remember exactly how I first held about Selfvation. I think it was at a car event, and someone was talking about it. I love the Selfvation community and your mission. Bringing the car community together, supporting local businesses and promoting mental health awareness are 3 things that are very important to me. I love the car community in the Upstate. It is a lot more amazing than people realize. I am a small business owner, and I try my best to help build up other small businesses. Mental health awareness is very important. I have been battling with mental health issues for over 15 years and it took me a very long time to be more open about it and get the help I needed.
Through dedication and the unwavering support of the automotive community, Jeremy Parnell and Fully Involved Events have proven that car enthusiasts can unite for a purpose far greater than themselves. From helping families in need to honoring local heroes, each event stands as a testament to the power of community and compassion. Looking ahead, Jeremy envisions expanding Fully Involved Events’ reach, growing annual donations, and even creating a one-of-a-kind event venue that could host everything from car shows to charity fundraisers.
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