CHICAGOLAND DEALERS CARE: The Chicago Auto Show Hosts its Annual Blood and Food Drives
MEDIA INFORMATION
Contact: Mark Bilek
Senior Director of Communications and Technology
Chicago Automobile Trade Association
Office: (630) 424-6082
Cell: (847) 652-0632
Email: mbilek@drivechicago.com
Contact: Hayley Feichter
Communications and Marketing Manager
Chicago Automobile Trade Association
Office: (630) 424-6002
Cell: (419) 506-0885
Email: hfeichter@drivechicago.com
Contact: Angela Lathen
Email: Media@ASafeHaven.org
Contact: Kristin Paltzer
Phone: 262-388-1909
Email: kpaltzer@versiti.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHICAGOLAND DEALERS CARE: The Chicago Auto Show Hosts its Annual Blood and Food Drives
CHICAGO (March 3, 2023) - The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), Chicagoland's new-car dealer association continues to show their care and support to the community by sponsoring Versiti Blood Center of Illinois and A Safe Haven food drive at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show. Emblematic of the new-car dealer members’ dedication to the community, the Chicago Auto Show’s annual blood drive and food drive each resulted in remarkable success.
Versiti’s 2023 Chicago Auto Show Dennis Buckley Memorial Blood Drive ran from February 11-20, during the public run of the show. Dennis Buckley, a former staff member of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, helped lead the auto show and was a driving force behind the blood drives. After passing away from cancer in 2004, the blood drive was named in his honor. It continues as the largest annual blood drive in the state of Illinois.
This year at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show, the Dennis Buckley Memorial Blood Drive collected an extraordinary 1,047 units of blood. Of the 928 people that registered, 658 of those individuals gave blood for the first time and 370 were diverse donors.
“We see a lot of first-time donors at the auto show, said Amy Smith, Versiti’s Director of Donor Services Operations. “People are coming for the opportunity to look at the cars, but end up giving to a lifesaving mission while they are on the show floor.”
“Out of all of our special event drives, we see the highest amount of first time and diverse donors that come through the auto show,” said Smith. “There is a great mix of diverse communities that come to the auto show and they tend to be the most giving.”
Smith explains that diverse donors are crucial because Versiti “ensures the right blood types and matches as we look at rare patients that need blood in the Black and Brown communities. We are constantly in need of O-Positive and O-Negative types of blood, as only four percent of the Black and Brown communities are giving blood.”
A Safe Haven Foundation helps Chicagoans experiencing homelessness become self-sufficient through housing, healthy lifestyles, and employment. The new-car dealers of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association recognize the importance of helping those in their communities. With that, the Chicago Auto Show partnered with A Safe Haven’s Community Food Pantry that distributes food to families in Chicago.
From February 15 through the 17, individuals who brought three cans of food to the Chicago Auto Show received a coupon of $5 off a full-price adult ticket. All the food brought was donated to A Safe Haven and will be distributed to families five miles from McCormick Place. Through the kindness of attendees of the Chicago Auto Show, the amount of food collected doubled from last year. This year, seven gaylord boxes were filled to the top. This equates to four tons of food and provides nutritious meals to thousands of families in need.
"A Safe Haven is grateful to the Chicago Automobile Trade Association for their sponsorship of the Chicago Auto Show Food Drive and their continued partnership in addressing the issue of hunger in our community, said Mark Mulroe, A Safe Haven’s president. “Each year, we receive thousands of canned goods to aid our pantry and other local food pantries in North Lawndale. This support helps us ensure that individuals and families experiencing homelessness and food insecurity have healthy meals and do not go hungry!”
“I am so humbled to be part of a group of car dealers that takes pride in giving back to the community and for making all of this possible for more than two decades, said Kevin Keefe 2023 Chicago Auto Show chairman.
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About A Safe Haven
A Safe Haven is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, social enterprise innovative private/public model designed to help people aspire, transform and sustain their lives as they transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency with pride and purpose. A Safe Haven provides the tools for each individual to overcome the root causes of homelessness through a holistic, scalable mode. For more information, please visit http://www.asafehaven.org/
About Versiti Blood Center of Illinois
Versiti Blood Center of Illinois is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Aurora, IL., that specializes in blood products and services and provides expert medical and technical support. Founded in 1943, it is the oldest blood center in Illinois and serves patients at 86 hospitals in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. It operates 12 donor centers and conducts nearly 2,200 blood drives annually at area hospitals, churches, businesses, schools, and community centers. To learn more, visit versiti.org.
About the Chicago Auto Show
First staged in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show is the nation’s longest running auto exposition in North America. The show is produced by the Chicagoland’s new-car dealer association, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, which has staged the show since 1935. The 2024 public show is Feb. 10-19 at McCormick Place. For more information and the latest updates, visit ChicagoAutoShow.com or Facebook.com/ChicagoAutoShow.com.
About the Chicago Automobile Trade Association
Founded in 1904 and located in Oakbrook Terrace, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is comprised of more than 400 franchised new-car dealers and an additional 150 allied members. The group’s dealer members employ about 19,000 people in the metropolitan area. The association has produced the world famous Chicago Auto Show since 1935. For more information, please visit www.CATA.info.
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