Local Car Dealers Drive Away the Cold

Local car dealers came together Monday afternoon to drive away the cold for youths in the North Penn and Indian Valley region.

The Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia dropped off more than 300 coats to the Lansdale branch of the as part of its Auto Dealers CARing for Kids initiative.

In 10 days, the association will drop off 22,500 coats in the five-county region to underprivileged children. It was all made possible by Operation Warm.

According to Kevin Mazzucola, executive director of the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia, the initiative has brought just under 80,000 coats to these areas in three years.

"These are great, new coats," said Andrew Fitchett, president of North Penn Imports in Hatfield. "We do not want kids to know that these coats are something that's given to them. We don't want to give them used coats."

According to Jay Haenn, of , dealers pledged a number of coats for every vehicle sold at their dealerships.

"Out of 150 dealers in the five-county area, 139 participated," Haenn said.

Don Franks, owner of in Montgomeryville, said this is the fourth year the association has taken part in CARing for Kids.

"The dealers commit to buy a certain volume of coats in September, based on units they sell," Franks said. "As a result, you commit to purchasing a number of coats to Operation Warm."

He said there are no designations for the coats.

"We allow kids to get them to wear in the community without any kind of stigma," he said. "The least we can do is keep those kids warm."

Franks said in some schools the need for coats is so bad that administrators alternate attendance so students have a coat to wear to school.

"In our community, I've seen that," he said.

Franks said the association relies on the North Penn YMCA to identify the youths that need coats. He said some coats will go to the , the Greater North Penn Human Collaborative for Health and Human Services, and the

"It's hard to find organizations to take on the responsibility," Franks said. "We would find that after the promotion, some would raise their hands and say, 'How about us?'"