Rieth Auto Carquest a local auto parts store in Mesa, Arizona has donated 800 turkey's this year to families in need. The Charity event throughout the Phoenix valley has been the most successful since it started in 1988.
Mesa, United States - November 25, 2015 /PressCable/ —
In 1988 Rieth Auto Carquest opened an auto parts store in Mesa Arizona. With roots dating back to early last century, in northeast Ohio, a company tradition had been to provide all employees a turkey for the thanksgiving holiday. The owners, Bob and Marcy Curtis, decided to continue that tradition, but in addition to providing turkeys for the store employees, they purchased a few extra birds, and donated them to the local chapter of the Salvation Army to help feed local needy families and shut-ins.
This continued for the next few years, and they gradually increased the amount of birds that they donated as the company became more successful. About 20 years ago, a local auto repair shop who purchased auto parts from Rieth Auto, heard about what they were doing, and decided to donate a few turkeys to the cause. The Rieth Auto Thanksgiving Turkey Drive was born.
Things started to get a bit difficult as donations grew. As people dropped off turkeys the Rieth Auto delivery trucks were running birds over to the Salvation Army several times a day for the week prior thanksgiving. They worked on finding a way to scale their efforts, but make it easier for everyone to participate.
The answer was to get monetary donations instead of frozen birds, and make a single large purchase, a few days before the holiday, and make a single delivery to the Salvation Army.
At the time, an average turkey cost about ten dollars, so Rieth Auto began soliciting pledges in ten dollar increments. They printed flyers that read “ Ten Bucks Buys a Bird” and store outside sales representative, Mike Hovland, took the flyers to all of the local auto repair shops, fleets, auto dealers, used car lots, and anyone else who purchased auto parts from Rieth Auto. Donations began pouring in, from ten to several hundred dollars.
In 2008, long time customers, Ken and Gene Neal, owners of Bullet Proof Diesel, surprised Rieth Auto with a $3000 donation! Not wanting to have a single contribution larger than their own, they matched that amount, and in 2009 began matching all donations up to $5000.
The drive grew each year with 2015 being the largest ever, with $12,084 in frozen turkey’s being donated. The 800 turkeys were actually more than the Salvation Army could use at one time, so some of the birds went to local schools to help distribute to needy and low income families. The plans are for 2016 to be even larger and to include at least a dozen local schools.
For more information about us, please visit http://www.riethauto.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Bob Curtis
Organization: Rieth Auto Carquest
Address: 1806 E. Main St. Mesa, Az. 85203
Phone: 480.962.4211
Release ID: 97612
