Doylestown Hospital raises over $4500 for Maternity Center with Fred Beans & Lincoln

Doylestown Hospital’s associates and members of the community that relies on the hospital’s services took more than 200 test drives in Lincoln sedans and SUVs at last Thursday’s Driven to Give fundraiser – for a donation from Lincoln of $4,580 (unofficial tally) to the V.I.A. Maternity Center of Doylestown Hospital.

“This fundraising effort will aid in the hospital’s efforts to enhance the maternity center,” says Kathleen Donahue, director, Maternal-Child Services.

“Updates include an expanded Intensive Care Nursery, new floors and furnishings in the private maternity rooms, an additional c-section suite and the latest technology and equipment, along with other enhancements.”

Lincoln’s Driven to Give program partners a local school or nonprofit organization with an area Lincoln dealership – in this case, Fred Beans Ford Lincoln of Doylestown – to provide the community with an opportunity to support a cause simply by test-driving a new vehicle and describing your response to the car and the brand. For each test-drive, Lincoln donates $20 to the nonprofit, up to $6,000.

A bonus was offered to 100 drivers just for this event: take two test-drives, and if one of them is in the 2013 MKS luxury sedan, Lincoln will donate an additional $20, driving up the total from $2,580 (unofficial tally).

“This is a great community builder,” says Gary Glauser, general sales manager for the Doylestown dealership. “Our sales people are there to accompany drivers for their short test drives and to answer questions, but we aren’t selling and there is no pressure at all. We all have fun.”

Maternity Center staff volunteers, headed by Kathleen Donahue, staffed the registration table; Steve White, Director of Security; Greg Brown, Director of Food and Environmental Services; Becky Stewart, Marketing Director, and Beth Long, Community Relations, helped with planning the event.

Raffle winners, too
Each person who test-drove a Lincoln was invited to enter a raffle for several fun prizes offered by friends of the hospital. The winners:

• Steve Scott won four movie tickets. Steve and his wife, Kara, are brand-new parents to Sadie. Steve left his family’s side for a few minutes to show his appreciation for the Maternity Center’s staff and services by taking a test drive.
• Marie York and Maggie Fairbanks, two hospital associates who work in SPD, each won four movie tickets.
• Val Passanante, an associate in the V.I.A. Maternity Center, won the Zoo Package of four admission tickets, balloon ride tickets and parking pass.
• Andrea Rush, a local resident, won an autographed copy of Through Their Eyes: A Story of Doylestown Hospital. Andrea is the daughter of Willard and Sonia Rush, who in 1974 purchased the house at Pine and Oakland that had served as the first hospital from 1923 to 1939. They are mentioned on page 65 of the history.
  

The nine Lincolns from Fred Beans included a Navigator, MKS, MKT, MKX and MKZ. Doylestown Hospital hosted its first test-drive event with Lincoln in December, raising $2,100 for the hospital’s Bridge Fund, which helps cancer patients who cannot afford some aspects of their care not covered by insurance.

Fred Beans Ford and Lincoln dealerships have helped area schools and charitable organizations raise nearly $40,000 from Ford’s and Lincoln’s test-drive events since 2009.