Warming hearts: Children at the Northeast YMCA show off their new winter coats, thanks to a donation from the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation. This season, the organization will distribute a record 42,324 brand new winter coats to underprivileged children.
The Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation recently delivered more than 1,600 new winter coats to the Northeast YMCA as part of its 2015 Driving Away the Cold program.
This fall, the Foundation will distribute a record 42,324 brand new winter coats to underprivileged children living in the five-county region of Philadelphia.
To get the coats to children who need them, Driving Away the Cold partners with more than 100 local YMCAs and other social services organizations in the five-county Philadelphia area. The program will donate a total of 15,150 new coats in Philadelphia County specifically. The coats delivered to the Northeast Y will be divided between the Northeast, Abington and Roxborough YMCAs and Catholic Community Services
Started in 2008 by the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation, Driving Away the Cold is a philanthropic initiative that focuses on keeping children warm by providing new winter coats to kids who need them most. The new coats are raised during a special month-long campaign titled We Pledge.
Participating dealerships donated a coat to a child for each vehicle they sold in September. Since the program’s inception, the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation and its dealer members have presented coats to 220,182 underprivileged children living in the Philadelphia region.
Of the 177 dealerships that participated in this year’s program, 15 are located in Philadelphia, including Barbera Autoland, Chapman Ford Volkswagen, Dunphy Ford, Faulkner Hyundai, Gordon Chevrolet, Sloane Honda and Sloane Toyota. ••