Shannon Litz/Nevada AppealCapital Ford General Manager Tim Milligan talks with Carson City residents Bill and Julie Mobley about what kind of car they would like to test drive.
The weather might not have cooperated as much as it could have Saturday, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of volunteers for Capital Ford's Drive One 4UR School.
Dick Campagni's Capital Ford rolled out about a dozen of its models for the community to test drive during the daylong event. For every test drive taken, Ford donated $20 to Carson High School's Safe Grad program - up to $6,000.
"We got up early this morning and saw the snow, but once a date is set with Ford, the program goes forward, the show goes on," said Tim Milligan, Capital Ford general manager.
"We decided on this one because we looked at the programs we've helped in the past, and we've done a lot of athletics," Milligan said. "All our businesses that typically support Safe Grad are struggling, so we're happy to be able to help."
In previous years, Milligan has called Ford's sponsorship of Drive One 4 UR School a chance to give back.
"With the economy being what it is, and programs being cut, we just want to help where we can. We're programmed to look for ways to help the community because this community has been good to us," he said.
More than 100 vehicles had been driven about halfway through the event.
Brenda Collings, who is co-president of Safe Grad with Julie Cowan, said 100 percent will go toward kids for the Safe Grad night.
On graduation night, Safe Grad organizers rent the community center and provide entertainment, food and music for the graduates - about 487 this year - from
8 p.m. until 4:30 a.m., Collings said.
From there, five charter buses will transport the grads to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif., for the whole day, then back to Carson City later that night.
"We've been offering Safe Grad for 23 years, and there has not been one (CHS graduate) alcohol-related death in all that time," she said. "We like to do ours on the actual graduation night to keep the kids safe."
The event costs about $40,000, but by making some adjustments, organizers were able to cut the cost down to $30,000 this year.
"Local businesses usually support us, but businesses are having a hard time even making payroll, so we were very happy when Ford came to us with this," she said.
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