Two Dealers Take Action To Help Families With Sick Children

The holiday season may be over, but dealers were and continue to do good in their surrounding communities. We found two stories of dealers who made a huge impact on those in need.

Our first story of a “dealer doing good” in their community is that of AutoMax Dodge in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The dealership presented a 2007 Dodge Caravan to the Jessup family. Mike and Lisa Jessup’s four-month-old son Jacob has hyperplastic left heart syndrome. The family was driving a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer, with a bad starter and bad brakes that had broken down multiple times before. They needed the new vehicle to go from their home to the clinic where their son is being cared for. The Jessup family also has three other young children to care for. Dealing with a failing automobile made running into this Dodge dealer all the more powerful.

Dale Smicklas, general manager of AutoMax Dodge, was waiting at the hospital when the family arrived to see their son and told told the couple, “I read about the fight that you guys are putting up, not only you guys but your child.” Smicklas added, “It was the right cause at the right time.”

The next story about “dealers doing good” comes from West Herr Chevrolet in Williamsville, New York. The Chevy store donated a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country to the family of Shawn Kennedy, a five-year-old boy battling brain cancer. Similar to the last story, the family vehicle was around 200,000 and no longer reliable, meaning the dealership donation came at just the right time.

Scott Bieler, CEO of West Herr Chevrolet spoke about the decision to help the family to the Niagara Gazette saying, “I heard about Shawn’s situation and once I heard his story I felt compelled by it and I felt compelled to do something. Obviously, you feel like you want to do more, he’s a special boy.”

Certainly these two dealers gave the generous gift of a free van to these families in need and epitomize “dealers going good.” What other acts of kindness have you seen dealers’ display that might not make headlines? If you find out about some act of kindness or charity by a dealer, feel free to let us know.