Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services supports organizations in three strategic areas: education, auto-related safety, and American heritage and legacy. The following are examples of some of our most significant or new programs.

• The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (PAS) is Ford's flagship education program. PAS uses an academically rigorous curriculum to provide high school students with 21st-century learning experiences that are focused on real-world skills. The program relies on collaboration among high schools, community organizations, higher education institutions, government entities and businesses, and has been adopted by more than 400 sites across 27 states, reaching more than 40,000 students. The program's distinctions include the first-ever National Governors Association Public–Private Partnership Award for innovative educational programming, which it won in 2007.
• The Fund supports teen safe driving through its award-winning Driving Skills for Life program, a safe-driving curriculum that has trained more than 337,000 students since 2003. Developed by Ford, the Governors Highway Safety Association and a panel of safety experts, the free program educates teens with a combination of ride-and-drive events, educational materials, customized in-school events and an interactive Web site. The program, which has received numerous awards, including the World Traffic Symposium Award, was launched internationally in 2008.
• Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services continued its implementation of See Me Safe, a child passenger safety seat initiative that was developed in partnership with Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. See Me Safe focuses on educating parents, caregivers, medical professionals, safety advocates and the media about the appropriate use of child passenger safety restraints. It also recognizes the important role that health care providers play, which is why the program relies on a supportive network of physicians, nurses, medical interns and pediatric trauma response teams. Launched in 2007, See Me Safe has distributed 750 car seats and reached 125 health care providers through its Prescription for Safety workshops.
• Corazón de mi Vida is a national bilingual initiative on child passenger safety developed by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services in partnership with the national Latino Children's Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Corazón de mi Vida, which continued its efforts in El Paso, Phoenix and San Antonio in 2008, focuses on informing Latino families, childcare providers and the Spanish-speaking community about the important role that safety seats and seat belts play in saving children's lives. Through continued support from Ford, more than 2,300 child safety seats have been distributed, and our safety messages have reached approximately 2 million people.
• In 2008, the Fund continued to support organizations and initiatives that preserve America's heritage, including the new Gettysburg Museum & Visitor Center, which opened in September. In addition, Ford Made in America, a consortium of small-budget orchestras that are performing a newly composed classical piece, premiered in Reno, Nevada. "Chasing Light..." by composer Joseph Schwantner, will be performed by 58 orchestras in all 50 states through 2010.
• Ford employees and Ford Motor Company Fund are major supporters of the United Way in the United States, giving more than $9 million in 2008 to support numerous community-based social services organizations.
• Ford also has a long history of working with disabled American veterans. For example, as a major contributor to the Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship Program, Ford provides scholarships to students who volunteer at local Veteran's Administration (VA) medical centers. For 14 years, Ford has also been a sponsor of the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, which brings hundreds of disabled veterans to the mountains of Colorado to participate in adaptive sports, including skiing, snowmobiling, sled hockey and rock wall climbing. In addition, since 1996, Ford has donated 132 vehicles to the Disabled American Veterans, which in turn gives them to VA hospitals across the country.

Ford also supports a wide variety of organizations through corporate contributions and sponsorships. Highlights include the following.

• For more than 20 years, Ford has been involved in helping find a cure for juvenile diabetes. See the juvenile diabetes case study for more information.
• Ford has also been a long-time supporter in the fight against breast cancer. Since 1995, Ford Division has been a National Series Sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® series. During that time, Ford has donated more than $105 million to the cause in donations and in-kind gifts. In 2006, Ford launched a new initiative in its fight against breast cancer called Warriors in Pink – Powered by Ford. The initiative raises funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure through the sale of specially designed clothing and accessories at www.fordcares.com. In 2008, Ford Warriors in Pink sold more than $1.8 million in apparel and accessories, with 100 percent of the net proceeds directly benefiting Komen for the Cure In addition to providing financial support, the Company encourages employees and dealers to get involved. To date, more than 75,000 Ford employees and thousands of dealers have participated in Races across the United States.
• In 2008, Ford volunteers raised $395,000 for the March of Dimes and $70,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.