Conicelli Autoplex has pledged support of the 2010 Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation Driving Away the Cold program.
The Foundation will jumpstart the program with 10,000 new child-size coats to be distributed in October through local branches of the YMCA.
To complement this effort, Conicelli Autoplex and Conicelli Toyota of Springfield will participate in the We Pledge portion of the program by donating an additional new coat for each car sold in the dealerships during the month of September.
In 2009, the Conicelli dealerships donated 800 coats to needy children through Driving Away the Cold program.
The federal definition of poverty is a family of four living on an annual income below $22,050. According to Pennsylvania statistics from 2009, 430,000 children would be defined as living in poverty. With annual income of just $44,100 per year for that same family of four, the number of children more than doubles to 974,000. By federal standards, at least 150,000 children in the five-county Philadelphia area are poverty stricken. Driving Away the Cold was designed to ensure that this classification does not define the lives of these children.
For low income and poor families, parents struggle with difficult choices every day. Food or electricity? Clothes or rent? The gift of a new winter coat to a child in need allows for just one easy choice for the parent but it warms the body and soul of the child. It supercharges the recipient's self esteem and helps him or her to arrive to school warm, on time and ready to learn. It reminds that child that he or she is valued.
Conicelli Autoplex and Conicelli Toyota of Springfield are pleased to be a part of this effort.
For more information, see http://www.caringforkids.com/Our-Grant-Recipients/Driving-Away-the-Cold