WAG Cares

United Way of Metro Chicago: On Sunday May 21st, employees from both Elgin Kia and Volkswagen of Palatine dedicated a few hours out of their day off to come and assemble snack packs for United Way of Metro Chicago. These snack packs were distributed to one of their partner agencies, VOCEL. VOCEL provides two-generation early childhood education programming for young children, families, and schools in overburdened, under-resourced communities. They aim to support early brain development and also build a foundation for academic and life success. What fun we had spending time with coworkers while doing something great for our local area!

Larkin High School: WAGcares reached out to Larkin High School in Elgin to see if there were any areas in which they needed support. They were in need of some new weightlifting equipment, so WAG was able to provide these for the students! Some of their athletes stopped by for lunch with WAG… and Annie the Saint Bernard! 😊

Second City Canine Rescue: WAG partnered with Second City Canine Rescue in March of 2023- they are an awesome rescue based in Palatine, IL. Second City also happens to be where Rigatoni (our backup F&I manager at Elgin Kia) is rescued from! On top of being able to raise funds for this awesome rescue all month long, we were able to host two adoption events to help get tons of dogs into happy homes and donate a ton of toys, leashes, and dog goodies. We're not sure who enjoyed it more; the employees, the dogs or the families who took them home. One of employees even took a doggy home! 

JOURNEYS The Road Home: WAG partnered with JOURNEYS The Road Home which provides shelter, services, and housing to those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in 37 different towns of suburban Cook County. WAG was able to donate over 6 large boxes of cold weather items from jackets, gloves, and scarves to hand warmers and more. The shelter is located very close to our Volkswagen store in Palatine and WAG was honored to take donations from our wonderful friends, family, and customers for them! JOURNEYS relies on donations and have been able to transition over 600 clients into homes over the past 8 years of operating! 

Uniting for the Holiday: WAG partnered with United Way at Elgin Community College for their festive "drive-through" this holiday season. Uniting for the Holidays events were in 8 different suburban communities and provided meals and gifts for thousands of families throughout the Chicago region!

The Salvation Army Part 2: Last year, WAG sponsored the Salvation Army's toy drive and did so again this year! We were able to purchase over 200 toys, two trips to Target and Walmart with over 5 shopping carts full of toys for kids of all ages. We had two of our team members do the shopping this year instead of the Weck family and they had so much fun being able to purchase gifts for kids who really need them and deserve a big smile this holiday season. Seeing all the gifts this year spread a TON of holiday cheer for our teams being able to contribute so many gifts. We're very thankful to be able to do so!

The Violet Foundation: In October 2022, WAG sponsored The Violet Foundation which is an organization very near and dear to Weck Auto Group as a close family friend lost their daughter, Violet, to pediatric brain cancer. They created the Violet Foundation to do everything they can to advance the treatment options available to families affected by pediatric brain cancer. No child should ever have to go through what Violet did, and yet hundreds do each year. We hope that her legacy is the work that her Foundation will do to end that suffering! The organization has already been able to help six families going through treatment in the short time since they launched in October. WAG is beyond honored to be a part of it!

Chicago Survivors: As part of our quest to make the holidays happier for families all throughout Chicagoland, WAG partnered with Chicago Survivors with a group donation for toys and sponsoring two children. Chicago Survivors is a non-profit organization that assists families who have been affected by violence in Chicago. In an effort to ensure that no family goes through their tragedy alone, Chicago Survivors is there from the beginning to offer family services, counseling, advice, and financial support. Last year, Chicago Survivors was able to provide gifts for over 600 children and WAG was very happy to be able to contribute to that this year!

Illinois Saint Bernard Rescue: The Weck family has rescued and fostered over 6 Saint Bernards from ISBR which is a rescue dedicated to Saints find their forever home.

 

WAG Day of Care: On Sunday, February 27^th, 2022, WAG partnered with The United Way of the Chicago Metropolitan area. Our amazing employees all came together at of our dealerships to package snack packs for underprivileged children after school programs. We were able to package over 500 snacks and it was a great day for our teams to get out and do some good for others. And Annie, one of the Weck family's dogs made a guest appearance to help! 😊

 

 The Salvation Army: Last holiday season, WAG partnered with the Salvation Army to donate toys to families in need. WAG donated over $2,700 in toys last holiday and are excited to be doing the same again this year! In 2021, the Salvation Army was able to make the holidays a little happier for over 800 families in our dealership areas.