VICTORIA -- A Victoria car dealership is revving up its charitable engine to support those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Victoria Hyundai kicked off Operation 100 on May 1 to support the Mustard Seed Food Bank.
The dealership is donating $100 from every car sold during the month of May, with a goal to sell 100 cars and raise $10,000.
“We are going through some difficult times in the world today,” says general manager Scott Muir. “With the support of the community, we can hopefully get to our goal.”
Muir says the donations apply to both the sale of new and used vehicles during the month. Donations to the Mustard Seed will be put in the name of the vehicle buyer.
“We think this is an amazing donation and initiative and quite creative during this time of uncertainty,” says Duncan Chalmers, the community engagement coordinator with the Mustard Seed.
Since the pandemic began, the food bank has seen its demand double. The need for food and monetary donations is critical right now and every bit helps, says Chalmers.
“This is going to be really helpful in purchasing food items. We are really in need of foods high in protein; things like peanut butter, tuna fish, canned beans and lentils,” he said. “This will go quite far to purchase those much-needed items.”
The Mustard Seed has also dropped off food donation bins at the Victoria Hyundai dealership located at 525 Gorge Road East. Anyone can drop off non-perishable food items there at any time.
Kot Auto Group, which took over the Victoria Hyundai location last year, started the Operation 100 fundraising campaign at their dealerships in the Okanagan six years ago. The group has raised more than $150,000 for the local hospital since then.
As of Tuesday, Victoria Hyundai had sold 11 cars, raising a total of $1,100 for the Mustard Seed in just five days.
This is the first year that the dealership is running the charitable campaign.
