Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) have partnered during this holiday season to raise awareness and support life-saving research and care at Nationwide Children’s. Mazda’s annual Mazda Drive for Good winter event is a national fundraising and volunteer campaign which has partnered with four national nonprofits and 42 local nonprofits to help give to those in need during this holiday season. The event begins Nov. 23 and will run through Jan. 4, 2016.
“Mazda Drive for Good isn’t about selling cars. It is about giving back and building awareness,” said Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO, MNAO. “Many people may think that we are building awareness for Mazda, but part of our goal is to build awareness for our nonprofit partners, that helps them long term, not just during the Mazda Drive for Good event.”
As in the previous two years, Mazda customers will continue to direct the $150 donation for the purchase or lease of a new Mazda to one of four national nonprofits or one or more local nonprofit options specific to their area. Mazda will also continue to pledge one hour of service for every test drive taken during the Mazda Drive for Good event time. Giving Mazda customers a local nonprofit option helps bring Mazda’s philanthropy efforts to the local communities.
“On behalf of our patient families, we are extremely appreciative to the Mazda North American Operations for including Nationwide Children’s Hospital in their Drive for Good initiative,” said Niki Shafer, Vice President of Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “We are always grateful to the local community for thinking of Nationwide Children’s throughout the year and especially during the holiday season.”
The Mazda Drive for Good® program launched in 2013 and further established Mazda’s commitment to charitable service with a pledge to its customers and the communities in which it does business. Responsible for donating more than $7.6 million and pledging more than 120,000 charitable service hours over the past two years, Mazda Drive for Good continues to provide monetary donations and community service throughout the year.
About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Ranked 9th of only 12 children's hospitals on U.S. News & World Report’s 2015-16 “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare networks providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children and adolescents, as well as adult patients with congenital disease. Nationwide Children’s has a medical staff of 1,100 and nearly 10,000 employees providing state-of-the-art pediatric care for one million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. Nationwide Children’s remains true to the original mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.
About Mazda North American Operations
Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com.