E. Norriton, Pa., October 21, 2009 – The Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation today announced its donation of 17,878 brand new winter coats to underprivileged children in the five-county region of Philadelphia. The coats will be distributed via more than 65 local beneficiaries, including social services agencies, YMCAs, homeless shelters, family service associations and more. The donation total was made public at the closing ceremonies of the Foundation’s second annual Driving Away the Cold program. The event took place at the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation headquarters in East Norriton where dozens of local auto dealers gathered to help deliver more than 1,000 boxes filled with brand new winter coats to the program’s respective recipients.
Driving Away the Cold is a signature program of the Foundation and Delaware County-based Operation Warm. The program, which started in January of 2008, was developed to help the tens of thousands of less fortunate children who are living in the Greater Philadelphia area without daily essentials like a warm winter coat.
Since the program’s inception, the Foundation has sustained the tradition of kicking off its annual Driving Away the Cold campaign with a donation of 10,000 coats to Operation Warm. It then continues its giving by conducting a special Driving Away the Cold month, where local participating dealers pledge one additional coat when a vehicle is sold at his or her dealership during that particular month. The 2009 Driving Away the Cold month took place in September and involved 118 participating dealers who collectively contributed an additional 7,878 coats to this year’s donation total.
“We are so proud of this entire program and all of its facets including the 118 dealers who participated in our second annual month-long campaign,” said Kevin Mazzucola, executive director of the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation. “Given the challenges that have plagued the auto industry this year, we were unsure of the amount of dealers that would be able and willing to participate or what size donation we would be able to make. We virtually matched last year’s efforts and that is remarkable. The dealers remain committed to the cause and I salute them for that.”
Within two years, the program has donated more than 36,000 brand new winter coats to underprivileged children in the Philadelphia area. The Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation plans to continue this program as more than 500,000 children in Pennsylvania are currently living without daily essentials like a warm winter coat.
*About Operation Warm: Operation Warm is one of the nation’s largest non profits providing new winter coats for children in need. Through its core values of accountability, excellence, integrity, innovation, respect and teamwork, Operation Warm strives to accomplish its vision - every child wearing a new winter coat is healthy, able to attend school regularly, and has strong self-esteem. Since its inception in 1998, more than 600,000 children have received the gift of warmth. For more information about Operation Warm visit www.operationwarm.org.