Auctions continue strong charitable efforts
Partnering companies — like in this case, Manheim — help organizations such as the American Red Cross Greater Carolinas Region succeed in their mission to ease human suffering during emergencies.
“Their support allows us to mobilize volunteers and provide hot meals and shelter when there is nowhere else to turn,” said that organization’s chief executive officer Angela Broome Powley.
Manheim Statesville’s efforts in the annual “Race to Give” charity program, for the second year in a row, resulted in the donation of an emergency response vehicle to the local American Red Cross chapter. That vehicle this year is a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu, and Remarketing by Element donated it. The donation boosts the organization’s emergency response fleet, which delivers supplies and services to Carolinas region residents who face disaster situations.
Manheim’s collective fundraising efforts have resulted in big donation numbers. The company has generated more than $350,000, along with donations of five Red Cross fleet vehicles.
In other news regarding charitable efforts by auctions, ADESA donated a white 2016 Acura TLX Tech, with proceeds going to the NIADA Foundation. The foundation coordinates the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s charitable giving efforts and awards scholarships to U.S. college-bound students.
Regarding Manheim’s work with the Red Cross, Manheim and Remarketing by Element since 2016 have worked together on the national “Race to Give” campaign. That campaign supports the American Red Cross, and Manheim locations across the country each year participate in a friendly competition in organizing fundraising activities, highlighted by Remarketing by Element’s vehicle donation to the winning location’s local Red Cross chapter.
Manheim Statesville was the top auction location In the most recent “Race to Give” campaign. The company raised $40,500 and organized blood drives, collected hurricane relief supplies, installed smoke alarms and stuffed 150 teddy bears. During times of natural disaster and when responding to home fires, the Red Cross to gives out the teddy bears to children at local shelters.
“Our 450 team members feel it’s important to extend Manheim’s corporate partnership with the American Red Cross to the local level by helping individuals and families in our own backyard,” Manheim Statesville general manager Ellie Johnson said. “These vehicle donations, along with the other activities that support our local Red Cross chapter, demonstrate the deep commitment we have to the community where we live and work.”
“We often think of the American Red Cross as a national organization, but their hyperlocal response helps individuals and families in communities every day,” Element Fleet Management vice president of asset remarketing Paul Seger said. “We are humbled to support the services they provide to people facing dark moments due to disaster.”
Regarding the ADESA donation, STARS GPS president Allen Douglas placed the winning bid of $24,000 for the white 2016 Acura TLX Tech donated by ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services.
Douglas placed the bid in a June auction on the final day of the 73rd annual NIADA Convention and Expo at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.
ADESA donated the vehicle, and the auction took place at the NIADA Dealer’s Lounge in the Convention’s Expo Hall.
ADESA will deliver the vehicle to Douglas for free.
“It’s great to do this for the foundation,” Douglas said in a news release. “It’s a great cause and a great organization. But it’s partly selfish; I need the car. We’ve got two vehicles in our fleet over 300,000 miles. It’s time to get a car. So it makes sense for everyone. This is one of those things where everybody wins.”
Douglas previously won in an NIADA Foundation auction in 2014. He was the highest bidder for a 2011 BMW 328xi that ADESA donated at that year’s NIADA Convention.
Auctions that ADESA and other KAR business units sponsored at the NIADA Convention and Expo have raised a total of $175,700 for the NIADA Foundation over the past seven years. Ohio dealer Chris Haus bid $26,500 for a 2018 Honda Accord during last year’s convention.
In addition to the vehicle, the auction included two pairs of tickets for a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2018 World Series rematch. Winners were able to watch the July game from the Dunkin Donuts suite at Boston’s Fenway Park.
For a package that included the suite tickets and round-trip airfare, Dan Reel of Reel’s Auto Sales in Orwell, Ohio and Eddie Hale of Neighborhood Autos in Decatur, Texas each bid $4,000. All of their bids went to the NIADA Foundation.
