General Motors Corp.’s Buick-Pontiac-GMC division will back a war veterans’ charity later this month, pledging $100 per vehicle sold to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Home for Children.
The program, which will run May 22-31, is expected to raise several million dollars for the 80-year-old charity, which operates a 629-acre (255 ha) facility in central Michigan that provides care for children of war veterans and their families.
John Larson, Buick-Pontiac-GMC division manager, says 60- and 30-second TV commercials will begin running Monday, May 22, to promote the charity program. The ads will provide an overview of the VFW National Home for Children and highlight the work it does.
Additional information will be available on GM websites, and Larson says the division’s 3,000 dealers also likely will promote the program locally.
Patrice Green, executive director of the VFW National Home for Children, says she is overwhelmed by the GM pledge, which she says she heard about for the first time last week. She estimates the contribution could account for one-fifth to more than 100% of the charity’s annual budget of $5 million.
“I’m speechless,” she says in a conference call to discuss the program. “We’re just reeling (from) the concept. And we just want to do the right thing with anything that comes our way.”
Larson says the charity pledge came about after he prompted his staff to do something special that would tie in his brands’ importance “to the economy and fabric of America” with the Memorial Day holiday that celebrates the contribution war veterans have made to the country.
