Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation

The Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation is a public charity that began as a community service effort by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia (ADAGP). Its mission is to enhance and enrich the lives of children in the communities where its dealer members work and live by providing access to and supporting excellence in the institutions that serve these children.

Two years ago, the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation selected Operation Warm as a partner for its Driving Away the Cold program. This annual philanthropic effort involves more than 115 area auto dealers that participate in a special 30-day campaign titled We Pledge.  

The Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation kicks off this special campaign with an initial gift of 10,000 coats from its general fund. Then, every September, the approximately 115 participating dealers pledge a new winter coat when a vehicle is sold at his or her dealership during the month. Since the program’s inception in 2008, the Foundation and its participating dealers have collectively donated more than 36,000 brand new winter coats to underprivileged children in the Greater Philadelphia region.  

For 2010, the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation, in conjunction with Operation Warm, is pleased to welcome area YMCAs to its Driving Away the Cold effort.  Similar to previous years, the coats donated via Driving Away the Cold will be distributed in two ways. Some participating dealers will select and deliver their amount of pledged coats to a beneficiary directly in their community. Others will opt for the Foundation to distribute their amount of donated coats where the need is greatest in the immediate five-county region of Philadelphia. To help identify the need, area YMCAs that frequently work with regional social service agencies, shelters and more will spearhead the distribution of these coats as well as the initial gift of 10,000 coats from the Foundation.  A community collaboration at its best, in 2010, the Driving Away the Cold effort hopes to surpass a grand donation total of more than 50,000 new coats.

For more information on the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation, please visit us by clicking here.