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Five Charities Receive Grants From Detroit Auto Dealers Association

12 October 1999

Five Charities Receive Grants Totaling $100,000 From Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation Fund

    DETROIT, Oct. 12 -- Five area charities were recently awarded
grants totaling $100,000 from the new Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA)
Charitable Foundation Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeastern
Michigan.  Today, Mike Savoie, vice-president of the DADA, officially
recognized the five recipients at the Automotive Press Association's monthly
luncheon held at the Detroit Athletic Club.
    The five organizations, which were selected on a competitive basis from a
large pool of applicants, are:

    *  Alternatives for Girls, Detroit, $29,180, for a homelessness prevention
       program for adolescent girls
    *  Mercy Mt. Clemens Corporation, Clinton Township, $10,000, to support
       the development and implementation of a youth mentoring program
    *  St. Vincent & Sarah Fisher Center, Farmington Hills, $30,820, for a
       program designed to help severely abused children return to a public
       school setting
    *  Volunteers in Prevention, Probation and Prisons Inc., Detroit, $20,000,
       to develop and implement the "Partners Against Crime First Offender
       Program"
    *  Lighthouse of Oakland County Inc., Pontiac, $10,000, to provide
       childcare programs for homeless women and children.

    The Charitable Fund, awarding its first round of grants since being
established in 1998, supports southeast Michigan nonprofit organizations whose
projects and programs assist children and young people.  The Fund is
administered by the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan.
    The Charitable Fund is supported by proceeds from the North American
International Auto Show (NAIAS) Charity Preview.  At the 1999 Charity Preview,
the Charitable Fund joined the 10 children's charities that benefit from the
preview event.  Since the inauguration of the Charity Preview in 1976, more
than $20 million has been awarded to the charities.  The Charitable Fund,
which is expected to grow over time, will distribute grants annually.
    The DADA, founded in 1908, represents more than 260 automobile dealers who
own 240 dealerships.  The DADA dealers sell 40 different vehicle lines in 64
cities through 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.
    The Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, founded in 1984, is a
permanent community endowment built by gifts from hundreds of individuals and
organizations committed to the future of southeast Michigan.  The Foundation
works to improve the region's quality of life by supporting a wide variety of
activities benefiting education, arts and culture, health, human services,
community development and civic affairs.  The Foundation has assets of more
than $242 million and, since its inception, has distributed more than $74
million through more than 10,000 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Monroe counties.