The Sandy Springs Invitational Car Show on April 19 is the Sandy Springs Police Foundation’s inaugural fundraising event, bringing more than 100 unique cars from Caffeine & Octane to the downtown City Springs district.
With a $10 general admission ticket, the public can access the three-hour car show along Mount Vernon Highway and dozens of classic and exotic automobiles from across the world. The Sandy Springs Police Foundation says all funds from the car show will go toward various resources to support the department and its officers.
Sandy Springs Police Foundation Executive Committee member Gail Early Jokerst said the nonprofit could not be holding a car show in downtown Sandy Springs without Bruce Piefke’s generosity, expertise, and support for his hometown.
Piefke is the CEO of Caffeine & Octane, a nationally recognized car show that attracts more than 2,500 vehicles and 30,000 fans to nearly every event. Jokerst said she called Piefke in November at the direction of a mutual friend, and he jumped at the opportunity to help the nonprofit.
Caffeine & Octane comes home
Piefke said he’s held a few spin-off events, called Caffeine & Exotics, around the City Green in Sandy Springs, where he grew up.
“What’s unique for me is that Caffeine & Octane is always a first-come, first-served … but for this [event] we’re procuring the cars so we know exactly who’s coming,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about 2,000 car owners showing up, because that part is all managed.”
Piefke said the event will close a section of Mount Vernon Highway along the City Green and have a classic car display in the parking lot south of the roadway. Because Caffeine & Octane Atlanta’s monthly event draws such a large crowd in Kennesaw, there’s some nervousness about how many people will show up.
“It’s such a great setting for a car show … normally I do them in big parking lots, but this has real character to it,” Piefke said. “The way that we’re setting it up, it’s kind of a big circle. You’ll walk down Mount Vernon, you’ll visit those lots up there, then you’ll come down Blue Stone Road, come up in front of City Hall, and they’ll be cars on a stage.”
Six Sandy Springs police officers are expected to have their personal sports cars in the April 19 show, and the department will have police vehicles for the public to check out.
“Everybody connects with cars, even if you’re not a true gearhead, you know, and you’re under the hood working on your car,” Piefke said. “Everybody has a good car story. Everybody can relate to it. The thing I’m most proud of about Caffeine & Octane is how diverse an audience it draws.”
Police foundation awareness
Sandy Springs Police Foundation Executive Director Tom Mahaffey, Jokerst, Piefke, and board member Donovan Adams sat down with Rough Draft Atlanta in early April for an interview at the Sandy Springs Police Headquarters and Municipal Court off Morgan Falls Road.
“The city does a beautiful job of giving [the SSPD] the best of what they need,” Jokerst said. “What we can do is go beyond that budget. If there’s something that they have a wish list for that the budget just might not cover, then that’s what we can step in.”
Jokerst said the car show is intended to raise awareness for the police foundation and a recent law introducing a new tax credit that allows individuals and corporations to reduce their income tax liability.
“We talk a lot about how we can push the idea forward and educate people on what the foundation is doing, so we can raise funds,” Jokerst said. “And we also wanted to do something that the police would enjoy coming to.”
Nonprofit for police
Jokerst is the only remaining member of the nonprofit’s original executive committee.
City officials created the nonprofit in 2023 and turned it over to citizens last year. It differs from the Sandy Springs Police Benevolent Fund, a nonprofit formed in 2010 to support law enforcement in times of crisis.
Georgia’s Law Enforcement Strategic Support Act, passed in 2022, allows individuals and businesses to donate to the foundation and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. Nonprofit members say it’s a win-win for residents and corporations looking to bolster public safety in Sandy Springs.
Specifically, the foundation’s website says it’s focused on constructing a training facility in Sandy Springs to provide a convenient location for local law enforcement qualifications.
Board Member Donovan Adams said most donations to date are from individuals in the community, and some local corporations are contributing “a significant amount.”
“Ultimately, this tactical instruction center that we’re working on, it’s not going to be built from the parties that we throw,” Adams said. “It’s going to be built from partnerships with other municipalities, other police, law enforcement agencies that might need a place to train, and also just the local corporate people, residents here that want to make large company donations.”
