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Detroit Auto Dealers Launch Year-Round Charity Program

3 September 1998

Detroit Auto Dealers Launch Year-Round Program of Community Giving

    DETROIT, Sept. 3 -- Southeastern Michigan communities will
benefit from a new program initiated today by the Detroit Auto Dealers
Association (DADA).  The DADA Charitable Foundation Fund was formally
introduced by auto dealers and a cross-section of community representatives
who compose the new fund's advisory committee.
    Created in response to growing needs experienced by local charities, the
new charitable fund represents a commitment by auto dealers to give back to
their communities, said Harold Kuhn, owner of Park Motor Sales in Detroit, and
co-chair of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
    The fund, established with a gift of $50,000 from the DADA, will support
the work of area charities and service organizations.  The fund will receive
additional monies throughout the year from the auto dealers' various
fund-raising events, including the prestigious, black-tie NAIAS Charity
Preview.
    Charity Preview is held each year at Cobo Center the night before the auto
show opens to the public, and benefits 10 Detroit-area children's charities.
The 1998 event raised $3.75 million.  Individuals attending may indicate, by
checking a box on their ticket order, which of the charities is to benefit
from the proceeds of their purchase.  In 1999 an eleventh box will be added to
the ticket -- the DADA Charitable Foundation Fund.
    The DADA Charitable Foundation Fund has been established as a fund of the
Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan.
    "This is a proud day for auto dealers," said Kuhn, who helped develop the
new fund.  "The DADA has always been there for charities, and through its
exclusive NAIAS Charity Preview event, has helped raise more than $15 million
over the last ten years for many outstanding Detroit-area children's
charities.
    "Each of us feels very good about the positive impact our events have had
on so many young lives but, quite simply, we want to do more," added Kuhn.
"And as a result of the increasing generosity of the people of southeast
Michigan, especially those whose lives touch or are touched by the automotive
industry, we are ready to take this next step."
    DADA President and NAIAS Co-Chair Russ Shelton said the association
throughout the year is inundated for donations and financial support by local
charities and service organizations.
    "Our new charitable fund will support many of these requests, especially
from those charities with which our dealer members are involved in their own
communities," said Shelton.
    Joseph L. Hudson, Jr., chairman of the Community Foundation, said, "We are
very pleased to be working with the Detroit Auto Dealers Association in
establishing this new charitable fund.  This represents an important
commitment to improving the quality of life in the region served by the
members of the DADA."
    Charitable organizations in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw,
St. Clair and Monroe counties can contact the Community Foundation for
Southeastern Michigan at 313-961-6675 for information on how to apply for
grants from the DADA Charitable Foundation Fund.
    Founded in 1908, the DADA represents more than 260 automobile dealers who
own 240 dealerships, and sell 40 different vehicle lines in 64 cities
throughout the metropolitan Detroit area.  The DADA supports its membership
through legislative and industry representation, educational programs and
communications and community relations activities.  The dealers and their
approximately 16,500 collective employees support their communities through
extensive charitable involvement.  More than 75 percent of DADA members donate
their time and resources to two or more charitable organizations.