Cindy Kupinski
By: Alyssa Ochss | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published May 31, 2026
HARRISON TOWNSHIP — The Cruisin’ to the Beach car show is back offering a chance to check out cool cars while bringing awareness to domestic violence.
This is the first year the organizers, Cindy Kupinski, CEO of Healing Choices, and her husband Dave Kupinski, a master auto mechanic and owner of D & P Auto, are hosting the event by themselves. Previously, they received help from another organization. Dave said it wasn’t much of a difference because he’s been working with autos and helping host car shows for well over 30 years.
The event aims to bring awareness to domestic violence and Cindy’s own experiences were the driving forces for her to create Healing Choices, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Cindy said when she was a child, she was severely abused.
“When I was little, I was in so much pain that I didn’t want other people to hurt as much as I was hurting at 4 years old,” Cindy said.
She said her first and second husbands were abusive. She and her kids went into hiding and she said she couldn’t go anywhere.
“The different shelters that we tried to go into, they were not helpful, so I wanted to make a difference,” Cindy said. “That’s why I started my own organization to make a difference.”
The third-annual Cruisin’ to the Beach charity car show will feature classic cars, muscle cars, motorcycles and more. It will be held at Lake St. Clair Metropark, located 31300 Metro Parkway in Harrison Township, starting at 9 a.m. and running until 3 p.m. on June 14.
It will be $10 for eventgoers to get into the park.
Cindy said the community has been supportive and excited about the car show.
“Especially since to my knowledge there has not been a car show out there for domestic violence,” she said.
Cindy said she currently doesn’t have any standard federal grants and that Healing Choices is 100% self-funded. The organization provides advocacy, help, donations and more to survivors of domestic violence. They help with navigating the court system, clothing, housing and more.
Dave said Cindy and he used to take their children to the car show, and it disappeared around 15 years ago. He said at the auto repair shop, they fix up hot rods and classic cars.
“There’s a lot of charity car shows, well. We figured if we were going to do a charity car show for domestic violence, why not go as big as you possibly can,” Dave said. “We thought about bringing back the Metro Beach car show.”
Dave also said it used to be a huge family event.
“We contacted Metro Beach, and they agreed,” Dave said.
The fee to preregister a vehicle is $20 and it is $25 to register a vehicle the day of the show.
Cindy said participants will get a swag bag. Dave said participants have had a great experience in the last two years.
The event will include classic cars on display, food trucks, live music from the band Motor City Geezers, raffles and more. Car owners also have the chance to win trophies.
“We’re just going bigger and better and over the top with it,” Dave said.
Cindy said since domestic violence has gotten so bad, her main goal is to bring awareness of how bad it is out to eventgoers. Multiple police agencies as well as other government agencies and representatives will be in attendance to offer information.
“The biggest thing is unity,” Cindy said. “We can’t do it all by ourselves and all the different organizations are going to be there.”
Representatives from shelters and other helping-hand organizations will be at the show.
“Just really want to get the awareness of how bad domestic violence is because a lot of people aren’t even aware of really what domestic violence is and how bad it’s gotten because women are actually getting killed,” Cindy said.
To register your car, visit the Healing Choices Facebook page for an entry form. For more information about the event, contact Healingchoices4u@gmail.com.
Staff Writer Maria Allard contributed to this report.