Morehart Murphy Subaru presented Community Connections Inc. with $15,000 on April 12 from donations that were collected during the automobile manufacturer’s 10th annual Share the Love benefit.
The Share the Love event – which lasts about 2½ months every year by Subaru of America – donates $250 of each new vehicle purchased or leased by customers to one of four national charities or an approved local organization. Donations this year were collected from Nov. 16 to Jan. 2.
Subaru leaves it up to the customer to choose which organization, local or national, will receive the $250 donation. Some opt to have the money donated to one of the four national charities, which include the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Make-A-Wish, Meals on Wheels America and the National Park Foundation. However, when it’s time to decide where the money will go, the sales team at the Morehart Murphy Subaru dealership in Bodo Industrial Park advocates that customers donate locally so that funds end up in the hands of Community Connections.
“We try to encourage people to keep the donations local so the money stays in the community instead of having it go somewhere else,” said Jonathan Griego, a sales associate at the dealership. “I would say that about 95 percent of the donations were local this year.”
Community Connections, which provides support and resources for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has benefited from the donation effort for the last five years. In past years, Share the Love has supplied between $8,000 to $10,000 to Community Connections. The amount this year was one of the largest donations the organization has ever seen.
In addition to the four national charities, more than 660 local organizations participated in this year’s Share the Love event. Tara Kiene, Community Connections CEO, expressed her gratitude for the donation to Jim Morehart, staff at the dealership and Subaru of America.
“We are so grateful for this support each and every year we’ve received it,” Kiene said. “This year, the donation leveraged matching funds recently secured from the Colorado Springs-based Moniker Foundation and will help CCI to be more responsive to meeting local needs that other state and federal funding cannot support. That is the incredible value and importance of this local contribution, which allows CCI staff to enhance and develop efforts to integrate our clients into our community.”
During the 2017 fiscal year, Community Connections served 340 people in Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan counties. Its main office is located at the Columbine Center in Bodo Industrial Park, at 281 Sawyer Drive.
About 40 percent of Community Connections’ clients are in Montezuma County, and the organization also has a day program site – the Holly House – at 831 E. 31st St., and an administrative office and day program site in Cortez.
For more information about Community Connections, visit www.communityconnectionsco.org.
fstone@durangoherald.com