Acts of Kindness by California Dealers

Pub. 2 2020-21 | Issue 4

Published December 2, 2020

By Jenny Dudikoff McLaughlin, Director of Public Affairs and Marketing

Throughout this challenging year, especially at the peak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, CNCDA worked to collect and share Acts of Kindness by California Dealers. Stories of dealers involved in positive local community efforts during trying times came in fast and furious, with several dealers providing support in a number of ways to first responders, children and families in need, and a variety of COVID-19 relief efforts. CNCDA could not be prouder of the dealer body for stepping up to support Californians and our great state during a time of crisis. To close out what has been an otherwise challenging year, we wanted to share some of these uplifting stories with you. Thank you to everyone who shared and all the dealers out there who continue to support their local communities.

Encinitas Ford joined forces with a local restaurant to deliver burritos to more than 1,300 San Diego health care workers on the front lines fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The dealership donated $10,000, and deliveries were made with cars from the dealership.

Lake Elsinore Ford provided lunch to the staff of 50 individuals who were providing free COVID-19 testing at Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium in recognition of their hard work and commitment to the program. The testing program was in operation for several weeks and provided much-needed testing to help keep the community safe.

Mike Thompson’s RV out of Southern California supported its local community and first responders during a time of crisis by providing meals to emergency room night shifts at a local hospital in Newport Beach. In coordination with Chronic Tacos in Costa Mesa, Mike Thompson’s RV continued to provide support to men and women on the front lines and seeks to reach 4-6 more local hospitals over a number of weeks, feeding 500 medical personnel in their local community.

Worthington Ford donated $5,000 to the Coronavirus Relief Fund through the Long Beach Disaster Relief Fund. The Long Beach Coronavirus Relief Fund supports community-based organizations at the front lines of the coronavirus response in the Long Beach area.

DCH Toyota of Torrance sponsored a community outreach program, Community’s Child, to provide food services during this crisis. With many local food pantries shut down at the peak of COVID-19 and local meals on wheels lacking volunteer drivers, Hope Community Center Pantry provided weekly groceries to over 300 families, 52 seniors and 11 individuals with disabilities.

South Bay Ford Lincoln in Hawthorne supported the local Boys & Girls Club with a $5,000 contribution to provide support for food services for underserved youth. The Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles Harbor launched “Grab & Go” Food Distribution, which provided children a source of food; the children otherwise rely on food from after school programs through the Boys & Girls Club. Since the club was shut down due to COVID-19, this program provided youth ages 5-18 access to five Grab & Go distribution centers to pick up a snack and lunch daily.

Team Kia of El Cajon developed a free oil change program offered to first responders and medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, police officers, paramedics, firefighters and all health care providers. This program services all makes and models.

Bakersfield Mazda gave back to those on the coronavirus pandemic front lines. The dealership offered free oil changes and car washes to health care workers through May 4. The program was not solely for Mazda owners but for additional makes and models as well.

Ford Lincoln in Bakersfield teamed up with local elected officials on two efforts to support COVID-19 efforts in their community. The dealership provided transportation to deliver 150 bags of groceries to families in need from Casa Loma Elementary School. Additionally, employees of the dealership joined the local “Food for the Front Line” fundraiser to help provide meals for Kern County emergency room staff and first responders who are working on the front lines of the pandemic, prepared by local restaurants.

VW of Murrieta partnered with their local Salvation Army (Murrieta Corps) to pick up donated food boxes and deliver them to local seniors who are not able to go out. Using their VW of Murrieta branded VW Atlas for transport, they dropped off between 30 and 35 boxes of non-perishable food items at their doorsteps.

Frank Motors in National City did its part to say “Thank You.” To show appreciation to all health care workers and first responders, the group offered a complimentary oil change, multipoint inspection and vehicle health check at Frank Toyota, Frank Hyundai and Frank Subaru dealerships through the end of the year. This offer is available on all Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru models. More than 200 first responders have taken their vehicles into various locations to redeem this act of kindness

Frank Motors out of National City continues to participate in local diaper drive activities to support San Diego families struggling to provide for their families during this difficult time. Miracle Babies, a nonprofit organization supporting families with critically ill babies in local neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), is extending its diaper drive-thru events throughout the summer. Frank Motors has provided Miracle Babies with a $3,000 sponsorship to offset costs associated with the South Bay diaper distributions. June’s National City diaper distribution was sponsored by Frank Toyota. July’s event was sponsored by Frank Subaru, and August’s event was sponsored by Frank Hyundai.

Fresno Acura hosted a pop-up blood drive in collaboration with the Central California Blood Center and the Fresno Realtors Association. As concerns around COVID-19 continued to evolve, the shortage in critical blood supply continued to grow. The blood drive resulted in 75 donors, far surpassing the goal of 50 donors, and yielded 48 units of blood drawn.

To help give back to the community, Lake Elsinore’s Anderson Chevrolet joined forces with the Lake Elsinore Storm and Shamrock Foods to provide a Meal Relief Program to its citizens. The Meal Relief Program offered individually packaged, ready to heat meals to the community at a low cost. For every five meals sold, one is donated to someone in need. Anderson Chevrolet has donated the use of a 4500 Chevrolet refrigerated truck to make deliveries possible.