It began with 70 coats and is now an annual charity. That was 18 years ago. It’s David Kelleher’s Adopt-a-Child, an annual Christmas charity that Kelleher works with City Team Ministries
Last year, the Adopt-a-Child program helped 1,067 get gifts from Santa, and Kelleher said he’s hoping to beat that this year. But let’s go back to when the story began.
“My first year in business was in 2005,” said Kelleher, who owns David Dodge on Route 202 in Chadds Ford. “The next year, I got involved in the coat program, and I thought I was a big shot because I bought 70 coats. I called [then] state Sen. Pileggi, and I asked him where I could give the oats away. Without hesitation, he said ‘City Team Ministries.”
Kelleher said he then went down to City Team and put the coats on some of the children, and was severely touched.
“And I was just blown away. It affected me in a way that I had never been affected before. I didn’t realize the need. It’s only 12 miles away from the dealership where people are really struggling. I looked at the people who ran City Team Ministries and asked what else I could do. That year, we bought a palette of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, and we began to get involved with the Adopt-a-Child program.”
That was 2007. In that first year, Kelleher said he guaranteed to City Team that he would 100 children at $50 per child. And that has grown.
“Last year, we were able to, between us and our community, our clients and our team here, we were able to adopt 1,067 children,” he said.
This year, Kelleher told City Team that he would personally help 600 kids, guaranteed.
“That means that if nobody else helped, I would take care of the 600 children. But our community is amazing, and people will step up if you present correctly and tell them the need. People have wonderful hearts, and they really step up.”
Some of the outsiders who help out are Philadelphia professional athletes. He mentioned Eagles lineman Landon Dickerson, telling the story of how Dickerson helped out last year.
“He and his wife said, ‘We don’t want to give you money, we want to shop for the kids.’ They took a list of 20 kids’ names with their wish list, and they shopped personally, and I bet they brought back toys for 40 kids. They said it was the best time they ever had.”
While Dickerson was the only one Kelleher referenced, he said there are nine Eagles and two 76ers involved, including 76ers head coach Nick Nurse.
Kelleher said his customers react well to the program. But so do people who have no connection with David Auto.
“We’ll get notes from 100 or maybe 200 people who say, ‘I’ll shop for a child, or I’ll donate. These are people who have no affiliation with the dealership. They just hear about the cause, and they rally themselves.”
Kelleher said City Team Ministries has about 5,000 or so kids on their list, but Kelleher is fairly confident that his dealership’s efforts will break the 1,067 record of last year.
“We’re really focused on hoping to get at least 1,100 kids adopted this year,” he said.
The way the program works is that people can simply donate cash — $75 — or a toy or two, or they get the name of a child with his or her wish list on what they want Santa to bring them. Then, the person shops for that child and brings the toy, doll, bike, or whatever to the dealership. If it’s a cash donation, Kelleher and his staff will do the shopping. The gifts are wrapped and taken to City Team Ministries, who then get the gifts to the families, and the kids think they’re from Santa.
Kelleher said it’s more than just. A Dave effort. His whole team is involved with the service guys putting together bikes and the girls doing the shopping when cash donations come in. But more than that, it’s the community.
“I can guarantee 600 kids and I can pay for that, but it’s more than just helping the kids, it’s rallying the community to do something great, to join together and make each other better…If we help each other out, I think when we get to the pearly gates, God will say you did good.”
For more information or to donate, with a deadline of Dec. 9, visit David Dodge at https://www.drivedavid.com/blog/adopt-a-child-program/.
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.
