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Ford Motor Company is investing more than $600,000 in education,
safety and community programs in a new initiative with Kansas
City-area Ford dealers
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Ford contributions include a Ford Transit van to help The Don Bosco
Centers deliver food to local senior citizens
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Award-winning Ford Driving Skills for Life program offering free,
hands-on driving clinics to 400 newly licensed teen drivers in Kansas
City area
Company Website:
http://corporate.ford.com/
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- (Business Wire)
Ford Motor Company is expanding its commitment to the Kansas City area
by launching a philanthropic initiative with local dealers that will
result in an investment of more than $600,000 in education, safety and
community programs this year.
As part of Ford’s investment, the company is donating a Ford Transit to
The Don Bosco Centers to assist with distribution of food to local
senior citizens and adults with disabilities. The Don Bosco Centers help
older adults and those with disabilities maintain independent living by
providing meals, transportation and activities. In April, Ford began
production of the next-generation full-size Transit van family at Kansas
City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri.
“Ford is committed to making a lasting difference in our communities,”
said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community
Services, the charitable arm of Ford Motor Company. “This new initiative
allows us to adopt a strategic approach to philanthropy that will
provide ongoing support to the Kansas City area. By working jointly with
our dealers and nonprofits, we are creating a better world for our
employees, their families and the communities where we live and work.”
The donations from Ford and its dealers focus on education, teen driving
safety and hunger relief. The support for Kansas City charities and
other nonprofits will add to the more than $10 million Ford Fund has
provided to local philanthropic causes over the last 20 years.
“We are delighted Ford is taking on this major project for the Kansas
City area, and look forward to joining with the company to make a
difference in our community,” said Bob Balderston, chairman, Greater
Kansas City Ford Dealers Advertising Fund. “The Greater Kansas City Area
Ford Dealers is committed to the future of our communities.”
Kansas City is the 19th market in the United States and Puerto Rico
where Ford and its dealers have expanded their commitment to meeting
community needs by collaborating on programs and nonprofit outreach. The
initiative, known as Operation Better World, was launched in 2008. Plans
call for adding more markets in the United States and elsewhere.
Ford announced the philanthropic collaboration with its dealers at an
event that also brought the award-winning Ford Driving Skills for Life
program to the Kansas City area as part of Ford Fund teen driving
outreach. Today, the first of 400 local teen drivers will experience a
safe driving course that puts them directly behind the wheel with
professional instructors.
Now in its 11th year, Ford Driving Skills for Life is a free initiative
that aims to equip teens and other new drivers with advanced skills not
typically covered in traditional driver education classes, with a focus
on addressing the leading cause of death for American teenagers –
traffic crashes. The program’s national tour is making stops in cities
across the country, and will visit the Kansas City area for the first
time this year. Four free driving clinics for teens and parents are
being held today and tomorrow at Worlds of Fun amusement park.
Ford Driving Skills for Life is one of the most comprehensive teen safe
driving programs in the United States and is presented through a
partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association. Both the
Kansas Department of Transportation and Missouri Traffic and Highway
Safety Division will participate. More than 550,000 new drivers around
the globe have been trained through online and hands-on professional
driver instruction, free educational materials, and state grants and
partnerships.
“We are excited to host Ford Driving Skills for Life here in Kansas City
for the first time,” said Leanna Depue, highway safety director,
Missouri Department of Transportation. “Missouri’s young drivers
continue to be substantially overrepresented in traffic crashes. This
important program will help improve their basic driving skills and
emphasize the critical need to buckle up and keep their focus on the
road. We hope the participants will share what they learn with their
friends and family, and practice safe driving every time, on every trip.”
The Ford Fund also recently helped bring the Spark!Lab Smithsonian
hands-on invention workshop to Science City in Kansas City, creating
only the third site in the Spark!Lab National Network. Ford Fund also
sponsored the Smithsonian Traveling exhibit – American Sabor – at the
American Jazz Museum last year. More than 50,000 visitors toured the
exhibit which showcased the positive influence of Latino music and
musicians in U.S. pop culture.
About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services
Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works with community
partners to advance driving safety, education and community life. Ford
Motor Company Fund has operated for more than 60 years with ongoing
funding from Ford Motor Company. Ford Driving Skills for Life teaches
new drivers through a variety of hands-on and interactive methods.
Innovation in education is encouraged through programs that enhance high
school learning and provide college scholarships and university grants.
Through Ford Volunteer Corps, more than 25,000 Ford employees and
retirees each year work on projects that better their communities in 30
countries. For more information, visit http://community.ford.com.
For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and
video, visit www.media.ford.com.
Contacts:
For Ford Motor Company
Kaity Patchett
319.321.8550
kpatchett@ls2group.com
Christine
Schick
515.443.5494
cschick@ls2group.com
Source: Ford Motor Company
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