Ford Donates $7,140 to Royal Oak High School

Ford Motor Co. made a hefty deposit of $7,140 into s bank account today thanks to a successful community effort.

Last month, the dealership partnered with the school to offer test drives of nearly 20 Ford vehicles to the community for which the school earned $20 per test drive with a $10 per drive bonus for trying out the 2012 Ford Focus.

"With money being so questionable these days, $7,000 is a big chunk of money," ROHS Principal Michael Greening said. "This will allow us to do some good stuff."

Greening said the money will be divided among the groups that worked on the fundraiser, including music programs, student government and athletic programs.

Ford Hall, the commercial truck manager at Royal Oak Ford, organized the with the help of an army of parent, student and school volunteers.  The program is intended to be a fun, engaging way to help high schools raise money to support their sports and extracurricular activities, the company says.

“We had about 60-70 volunteers who worked all day,” Hall said. “The kids stayed all day – even the seniors who are done with high school.”

Royal Oak High School freshman Melanie Limer collected forms from test drivers for about 12 hours the day of the event and her mom, Amy, helped facilitate the drives. “I thought it would be fun to help out the school,” Melanie Limer said.

Students and teachers gathered in the school’s auditorium Tuesday morning cheered as Chris Wallace, a zone manager for Ford Motor Co., presented a large ceremonial check for $7,140 to Principal Michael Greening.

“Very few of our dealerships get on board like Royal Oak Ford,” Wallace said. “It was executed really well. … The most successful programs are the ones where the school really embraces it, like this one.”

Hall noted that his dealership and the school hope to repeat their success with another test drive fundraiser on Oct. 8. “Tell all your parents and friends!” he encouraged the kids.

Royal Oak Ford has a history with and of supporting the high school. Last fall, the dealership donated $5,000 to the school’s music program. Karen Kline, president of the ROHS Band and Orchestra Boosters, said the partnership with the dealership has “proven to be a successful and positive experience."