DaimlerChrysler Services North America Donates $20,000 To Support Local Special Olympics Program

* DaimlerChrysler Services' Philadelphia Customer Contact Center Employees Raise $10,000 for Athletes * DaimlerChrysler Services Matches $10,000 Donation * Special Olympics Montgomery County Receives Donation to Help Athletes Participate in Special Olympics Pennsylvania's Fall Festival this November

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29 -- DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC and its Philadelphia Customer Contact Center presented a $20,000 donation to the Special Olympics Montgomery County (SOMC) today at DaimlerChrysler Services' Philadelphia office.

The first $10,000 donation was raised by the dedicated employees at the Philadelphia Center through a golf tournament fundraiser and supplemented by bake sales and dress-down donations, which allowed them to dress in blue jeans on Fridays.

The second $10,000 was donated on behalf of DC Services. "At DaimlerChrysler Services we feel a real closeness to donations of this kind, where we can truly help the communities and show our commitment to the regions where we live and work," said Juergen Walker, President and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Services North America. "We are especially proud of our employees' extraordinary contributions to providing opportunities for these athletes and that is why we matched the donation with $10,000 more to aid in their cause," Walker added.

Through this donation, SOMC is able to provide more than 125 athletes with new jackets, team uniforms for soccer and roller skating, as well as covering the costs for transportation, fees, coaching and volunteering needs for the Special Olympics Pennsylvania 2003 Fall Festival. Additionally, the money will be used to help fund SOMC's Equestrian Team.

Representatives of SOMC were present to receive the donation. Accepting the checks were Marie Hallman, Volunteer Manager of SOMC, and SOMC athletes Amanda Morrison and Wendy Hawk.

"We are thrilled that DaimlerChrysler Services and its staff have made such generous contributions to help support our program. We are excited to participate in the Special Olympics Pennsylvania 2003 Fall Festival with DaimlerChrysler Services North America as the official sponsor of Special Olympics Montgomery County," said Marie Hallman. The Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival will be held November 7-9 at Villanova University.

About DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC

DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC provides brand-specific financing for automotive dealers' inventories and their retail consumers and does business as Chrysler Financial and Mercedes-Benz Credit. As DaimlerChrysler Services Truck Finance it also finances commercial vehicles for affiliate products such as Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star. The company serves as the headquarters for the operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico and has over 5,500 employees who manage a portfolio of $83 billion with nearly five million contracts. DaimlerChrysler Services North America is a member of the DaimlerChrysler Services Group, headquartered in Berlin, Germany which operates in 39 countries with an employee base exceeding 10,800 and a global portfolio of EUR 103 billion. DaimlerChrysler Services is one of the leading financial services companies worldwide.

Special Olympics

Special Olympics Pennsylvania provides year-round training and competition in 23 Olympic-type sports to 25,000 children and adults with mental retardation. For more information on how the movement inspires greatness, visit our Web site at www.specialolympicspa.org .

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