Driving for cure donations

NEWPORT BEACH — Mary Desloover got to drive a shimmering new silver BMW down West Coast Highway Wednesday morning, and she had to fight the urge to stray off her route.

“I almost took it home to visit my cat,” said the Huntington Beach resident after parking her car back at the Sterling BMW dealership.

Desloover, though, was on a mission — one she and thousands of others take every year.

Since 1997, BMW of North America has sent a fleet of new cars across the country to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a nonprofit that supports breast-cancer research and treatment. Participants borrow the cars, which feature pink ribbons painted on their sides, and drive them around town to advertise the Komen message.

For each mile volunteers drive, the nonprofit receives $1.

The program, known as the Ultimate Drive, routinely raises more than $1 million in a year.

The fleet, which stopped for one day in Newport Beach, planned to head on to Santa Ana and San Diego in the coming days.

Many of the people who came to drive the cars were regular Komen supporters, but a few were new to the fold — including UC Irvine student Dante Cesa, 18, who was among the first to stop by on Wednesday.

“It’s a good event to test-drive cars and support a good cause,” he said.