Today NADA Chairman Paul Walser and NADA President and CEO Mike Stanton were on the ground in Louisiana visiting two dealerships with employees impacted by Hurricane Ida. During their visit, NADA’s leaders presented dealership employees with checks to help with damages and defray costs before insurance payouts.

Funds were presented to employees from the NADA Foundation Emergency Relief Fund, which provides auto and truck dealership employees who have been impacted by natural disasters with grants of up to $1,500.

Walser and Stanton, along with former ATD Chairwoman Jodie Teuton and Louisiana Auto Dealers Association President Will Green, visited Lamarque Motors in Kenner, La., where they presented checks totaling $28,500 to 34 dealership employees. Later in the afternoon, they presented checks to 12 employees at Supreme Chevrolet in Gonzales, La., part of the Supreme Automotive Group. In total, 23 Supreme Automotive Group employees received Emergency Relief Fund grants.

“This storm has devastated the Bayou region more than many realize,” said Teuton. “South Louisiana needs help and I know that dealer families truly appreciate support from the NADA Foundation and the humanity it represents.”

“It was amazing to see the resiliency of dealership employees who are working to pick up the pieces and rebuild their communities,” said Walser. “I am so thankful that the Emergency Relief Fund is able to offer assistance to every employee who qualifies. Without our help, dealership families may not get the help they need.”

As a result of Hurricane Ida, the Emergency Relief Fund has distributed $170,000 to 190 dealership families in Louisiana and is working to process an additional 400 applications for assistance.

“For more than a decade, the Emergency Relief Fund has helped dealership employees and their families weather all kinds of natural disasters and tragedies, from Hurricane Katrina and Harvey, to wildfires, tornadoes and floods,” said NADA Foundation Chairwoman Annette Sykora, who is a Ford dealer in West Texas and a former NADA chairwoman. “Since the Emergency Relief Fund began in 1992, it has provided 12,000 dealership employees with grants totaling nearly $9 million.”

Thanks to the generous support of dealers and industry partners, the Emergency Relief Fund is able to provide financial assistance to dealership employees affected by natural disasters. Please consider making a donation to the Emergency Relief Fund to help our dealership families. The NADA Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and donations to the Emergency Relief Fund are tax deductible.