Drive for Education

New england car dealer EXCEEDS $204,695 in donations to local schools

Berlin City Auto Group and its Drive for Education Foundation Award Nineteen New England Schools

PORTLAND, Maine – May 9, 2011 – Berlin City Auto Group, a family of dealerships founded in 1980 in New England, and its Drive for Education foundation, a forward-thinking program created by the employees of Berlin City Auto Group, announce the award recipients in its Drive for Education program. Donating $33,050 to 24 K-12 schools spanning across New England, Berlin City Auto Group has exceeded awarding of $204,695 to local schools. Recipient schools will be honored with a check presentation at a Berlin City Auto Group dealership in Maine, Vermont or New Hampshire, May 15, 16 and May 22.

To be considered for the program, a school official had to submit a short essay to Berlin City Auto Group by April 15, 2013 explaining how their school would use a donation of up to $3,500. Berlin City’s Brand Ambassadors, a group of employees that lead the dealerships’ community involvement campaigns, evaluated the needs of each school and selected the winners accordingly.

”We’re thrilled to have be in the position to give out $204,695 in donations to New England schools,” said Yegor Malinovskii, vice president at Berlin City Auto Group. “We believe in giving back to the community and helping our local schools succeed in education.”

Berlin City Auto Group will hold check ceremonies on Wednesday, May 15 in New Hampshire; Thursday, May 16 in Maine; and Wednesday, May 22 in Vermont, honoring the winning schools. Awarded schools include:

• Groveton High School – Groveton, NH
• Berlin High School- Berlin , NH
• Brown School – Berlin, NH
• Edward Fenn Elementary School – Gorham, NH
• Berlin Regional Career and Technical Center- Berlin, NH
• Colebrook Elementary School- Colebrook, NH
• Saco Middle School- Saco, Maine
• Skillin Elementary School- South Portland, Maine
• Gray/New Gloucester High School- Gray, Maine
• Harrison Lyseth Elementary School- Portland, Maine
• Blue Point School- Scarborough, Maine
• Gorham Middle School- Gorham, Maine
• Carrie Ricker Middle School- Litchfield, Maine
• Braintree Elementary School- Randolph, Vermont
• Brown’s River Middle School- Jericho, Vermont
• St. Albans City School- St. Albans, Vermont
• St. Albans Town Education Center- St. Albans, Vermont
• Northern Adirondack Central High School- Ellenburg Depot, New York
• Highgate Elementary School- Highgate Center, Vermont
• Richmond Elementary School- Richmond, Vermont
• Franklin Central School- Franklin, Vermont
• Rick Marcotte Central School- South Burlington, Vermont
• Winooski Middle School- Winooski, Vermont

From each vehicle sold at its six dealerships throughout New England, Berlin City gives a portion of sales to the Drive for Education program. This first of two yearly awards periods, the Drive for Education Foundation has awarded more than $33,000 to New England schools with the first donation of $40,000 made in June of 2011 to twelve recipient schools.

For more information about Berlin City Auto Group’s Drive for Education Foundation, visit: http://www.berlincity.com/driveforeducation.htm

About Berlin City Auto Group

Berlin City Auto Group consists of six dealerships in New England, located in Gorham, N.H., Burlington, Vt. and Portland and S. Portland, Maine. The company sells Toyota, Scion, Lexus, Nissan, Honda, Chevy, GMC, Buick, Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Kia. Berlin City offers a 4-day/200 mile no questions asked return policy and the lowest, most competitive 4-day/200 mile price guarantee, door-to-door delivery service throughout New England and pre-owned protection on Berlin City certified pre-owned vehicles within 60 days or the first 2,000 miles. If it breaks, we’ll fix it. For more information or a list of locations, please visit www.berlincity.com. You can also find Berlin City on Facebook and Twitter.

Franklin Central School

Franklin, Vermont  05457

January 14, 2013

Dear Dedrick, the Drive for Education Committee, and all at BerlinCity,

On behalf of the students and staff at the FranklinCentralSchool, I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank you all for allowing us to be a part of your Berlin City Drive for Education program this year.  Being selected to receive the $1400 check was such a wonderful and welcomed surprise.  The impact you have made on our school has been immeasurable!

Our little school in Franklin, Vermont has such a small budget to work with when it comes to buying extra 21^st Century tools to use directly with students.  Because of that, $1400 seems like million to us in many ways!  The money we received through your generous program is being spent as I write.  We are thrilled to be purchasing at least three iPads and the necessary accessories to allow students to use them for small group and individual lessons.  Without your generous grant money those tools would remain as resources we could only dream about having.  What a difference you have made!

Not only was the grant money wonderful, but the experience our students had when receiving it, as well.  Your staff helped the children feel so comfortable and welcomed as soon as we stepped in the door. The photo opportunities, pizza, cupcakes, drinks, and gifts for the students were above and beyond all expectations.  The students left feeling very honored and returned to school with “the giant check” as proud as could be.  The following day, they presented the check to the entire school community.  The remainder of the day was filled with much excited talk about the possibilities that money would hold for our school.  It was an experience that will not soon be forgotten.  Thank you for making the presentation day so special and inspiring the students to pass on that excitement to the rest of the school.

I hope that we will someday again be a part of the Drive for Education grant.  Thank you again for your incredible generosity.

Sincerely,

Deb Boucher

Reading Interventionist/Literacy Leader

The students from the Village Elementary School in Gorham Maine wrote a thank you letter to Berlin City’s Drive for Education program.  They spent their grant money on document cameras to share math pattern block designs, read stories and do an origami lesson.  We love to hear how the students and schools have used their grant money.

Thank you letter from Josiah Barlett Elementary School. They recieved a $3,500 grant from Berlin City’s Drive for Education Program. The grant will be used to purchase iPads for the school.

Dear Ambassador Team at Berlin City Auto Group,

It is with deep and sincere gratitude that we welcome your Drive for Education Foundation awards of $3,500 to both Colchester Middle School and Malletts Bay School!

Because of your generous partnership, Colchester Middle School will strengthen its students’ educational offerings by increasing its laptop inventory for use with the Young Writers Project as well as with mathematics, reading, science, and technological skill building. This partnership will allow our educators to further adapt their teaching environments, making their instruction more accessible and their curriculum more diverse, and it will fortify our students’ understanding and demonstration of their learning. Your collaboration with Malletts Bay School will support the purchase of books for a balanced reading instruction model, helping our educators to deliver even more effective instruction and helping to close achievement gaps among our students. The long-term and far-reaching impacts of your gifts are beyond measure.

We were also very touched by the significant efforts you made to personalize the awards ceremony with the presentation checks and the way you so thoughtfully provided refreshments and gifts. The formality of the event especially underscored its importance for our student delegates and truly made them feel valued and distinguished. Your efforts created an important, resounding impact.

To further express our gratitude, we have widely publicized your support to the press as well as on CSD Spotlight (www.csdspotlight.org) and on our Facebook page.

We invite you to touch base with us at any time to see how your generous funds are helping to enhance our students’ educational experiences. If we may be of service to you at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you again?we are grateful to you for your support!

Sincerely,

Principal Julie Benay, Malletts Bay School
Assistant Principal Peg Gillard, Colchester Middle School
Sara Ensey, Colchester School District
December 27th, 2011

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Berlin City Auto Group and its Drive for Education Foundation Award Nineteen New England Schools – December 19, 2011