Dealer showrooms are full of 2015 model year vehicles.
And if you’ve been waiting – or wanting — to check out what’s new in the world of automobiles, there couldn’t be a better time to spend a few minutes at local retailers.
Here’s the drill. Take a break as we rush toward Christmas.
Grab a non-perishable food item, or better yet, some cash.
Head to your nearest Calgary new car dealer and help stuff their Inter Faith Food Bank donation box to the brim. Or, deposit your coins and bills in the cash box. While there, take a peek at the newest cars and trucks.
“We’ve been involved with the Mayor’s Christmas Food Bank Drive for many years,” says Jim Gillespie, executive manager of the Calgary Motor Dealers Association (CMDA). “This year, at the kick-off celebration, we presented them with a cheque for $10,000 to help get things rolling.”
It’s a long-standing tradition for Calgary area auto dealers to support the food bank. In fact, many of the dealers support their own internal promotions, for example, encouraging friends and customers to come and fill the back of a pick up truck with food.
“Many dealers will write a cheque to match employee contributions, or they will make a donation to the food bank directly from the dealership,” Gillespie says. “Cash goes much further than food.”
The CMDA also promotes its own internal competition to encourage gathering as much food and cash as possible. Area dealers divide into teams.
This year, the match pits president Cindy Clark of Sterling Western Star Truck against vice-president Kelly Temple of Eastside Kia.
“It’s all about helping the food bank and the less fortunate at this time of year,” Gillespie says.
In 2013, the CMDA and its member dealers managed to contribute just under $100,000 to the food bank drive. It would be great this year, Gillespie says, if the association could top the $100,000 mark.
On December 18 donation boxes will be loaded into dealer parts vans and shuttle buses. In one long caravan, the CMDA will deliver all of its food and cash to the food bank.
In other seasonal news, the CMDA will be donating an unspecified amount to the Calgary Herald’s Christmas Fund.
Started in 1991 by Herald employees, the Christmas Fund gives readers and industry alike the opportunity to contribute to a number of different Calgary social agencies. Now in its 24th year, the Herald initiative has raised more than $20 million dollars since its inception. Last year, the fund distributed some $1.2 million dollars to several local charities.
While not exactly Christmas related, over the next few weeks Calgary-area Toyota and Volvo dealers (and Calgary fire halls) are helping out the Rotary Clubs of Calgary and Project Warmth.
Many residents of Morley in the Stoney Nakoda First Nation community west of Calgary require warm winter clothing such as coats, mitts and hats.
The dealerships and the fire halls are collecting donations of winter wear for immediate distribution to Morley families – some of whom continue to grapple with the aftermath of the 2013 flood.
Visit a Calgary car dealer and help spread some Christmas cheer this year.
Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have an auto related item to share for the column or What’s Next? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca. Visit his website at gregwilliams.ca
