There’s a statement attributed to Benjamin Franklin that says a person can do well by doing good. A businessperson can do well — be successful – by doing good — providing products and services that people want at a price they can afford. But there’s also another possible meaning. Be charitable and rewards will follow.
Dave Kelleher of David Auto is a believer in the latter. He attributes his success as a car dealer to something he started doing when he was millions of dollars in debt. He started giving back to the community.
Kelleher had just started his dealership using all the money he had and with borrowed money. Every day was a challenge. But then a friend asked him to donate a car for a raffle to help save St. Cyril’s School in Lansdowne. He said in a recent interview that he doesn’t know why, but he said yes and donated a Dodge Caliber.
“Something just told me to do it,” he said and thought “I’ve got to be out of my mind. But the TV stations all picked up on that. The goodwill that came out was tremendous. They saved St. Cyril’s. The raffle brought in $200,000 for a $20,000 car. And my business grew exponentially. I couldn’t tie it directly to [donating the car] but it just kept getting better. Every time these opportunities came in, I would dive in. Business got better and the dealership grew. We’re the 18th biggest Chrysler dealership in the country.”
But that one expression of charity has grown not only his business but to more charitable endeavors. For the 15th year, Kelleher and his dealership have teamed up with City Ministries of Chester in the Adopt a Child program. It started out with his dealership providing coats in 2007, then providing Thanksgiving dinners, and now the Adopt a Child program.
Unlike other gift-giving charities, people who donate know who they are donating to. People are given a list of names of kids and what they want for Christmas, and they pick one or more. They then either buy the requested gift or two or donate $75 per child they’re “adopting.” The recipients never know they’re getting charity.
This year, 1,200 families, representing 3,200 kids, have signed up with City Ministries. Unwrapped gifts are given to the families in black plastic trash bags with wrapping paper so they can wrap the gifts themselves and put them under the tree for their kids, Kelleher said.
During his first year he was involved, Kelleher said, they gave out 70 coats, 1,000 cans of green beans, and adopted 50 children. This year the number has jumped to 1,500 coats, 2,000 cans of green beans, 2,000 jars of gravy, and a guarantee of 600 kids getting gifts.
"These are neighbors, and neighbors are supposed to help neighbors," Kelleher said.
To donate to the program, people should bring unwrapped gifts to David Auto on Route 202 in Chadds Ford Township by Dec. 9. For more information, send an email to adopt@drivedavid.com or visit www.drivedavid.com/blog/adopt-a-child-program/. Financial donations may be made through PayPal.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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