Tennessee Auto Dealer Establishes Family Legacy of Giving through NADA Foundation
TED RUSSELL NAMES HIS WIFE AND FIVE GRANDCHILDREN AS AMBASSADORS OF NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 6, 2012) - Ted Russell leads by example when it comes to supporting his community and giving to others. Since 2007, Russell has named seven Ambassadors of the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation. They include his wife, Drama, their five grandchildren, Joshua, Andrew, Ashley, Phillip and Katherine, and one for himself.
Russell, a new-car dealer in Knoxville, Tenn., wants his grandchildren to get in the giving spirit, develop an attitude of giving to others and make a decision on a worthwhile cause where to contribute the money.
Russell, NADA's director from Tennessee, chose his alma mater, Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., to receive his annual $2,000 gift from the NADA Foundation's Ambassadors program. The money will be used for maintenance and repair of the business school, which was built in 2010. His wife and two grandchildren will present their first grants this year.
“I feel that every person wants to make a contribution in life. They want to leave this world feeling that they've made the world a better place,” Russell added. “The Ambassadors program is a good way to give back, especially to the community that you've lived and worked in all your life.”
To become an NADA Foundation Ambassador, a dealer, company, association or individual makes a tax-deductible contribution of $10,000 in their name or in recognition of a loved one, living or deceased. Ambassadors are then eligible to provide $1,500 grants every three years in perpetuity. Benefactors with three gifts of $10,000 to the program receive the title, Ambassadors of Distinction, and can present $2,000 grants every year in perpetuity.
The NADA Foundation's Ambassadors Program
Today, there are 579 Ambassadors who provide about $250,000 to organizations each year in the public or private sector, supporting a variety of causes from emergency medical services and education to job training for adults with disabilities. This year, 135 Ambassadors will present grants to organizations of their choice. To date, more than $1 million has been donated to organizations across the country through the program. For more information or to become an Ambassador, contact the NADA Foundation at 703.821.7102 or foundation@nada.org.
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Jared Allen