Helping a school
Car dealership, high school join forces under Ford program

By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Friday, August 28, 2009 12:03 PM PDT

Larry Meyer | Argus Observer Matt Lunstrum, sales manager at Gentry Ford, stands by a big banner announcing the ‘Drive One 4 UR School’ promotion, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Ontario High School. The OHS boosters will get $20 from Ford Motor Company for every person who test drives a new car during the event.

ONTARIO—In an effort to help fund high school activities, Gentry Ford, Ontario, is participating in a Ford Motor Company promotion to raise money by enticing people to test-drive new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

Called “Drive One 4 UR School,” the program links dealers with the local high school booster club in a campaign to raise up to $6,000. Gentry Ford staff will be at Ontario High School, in the parking lot next to the football field, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, with vehicles for people to test drive, Ken Hart, Gentry Ford chief financial officer, said.

For every test drive made, the dealer will give $20 from Ford Motor Company to the Ontario Sports Boosters to support activities at OHS. On top of that, Gentry Ford will give $500 to a specific program whose members get the most people to test drive a car, Hart said.

Members of the Ontario High School Future Farmers of America the and various sports teams will be out in force to encourage people to test drive a car.

“They will begin with about 20 new vehicles to the stadium,” Manny Alvarado, OHS athletic director, said, and to be eligible for a test drive a person must be 18 and have a valid drivers license.

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Also going on Saturday at the high school is the fall sports scrimmages, along with a barbecue. Those events begin with the volleyball scrimmage at 3 p.m. in the gymnasium, and then the action will go out to the stadium where the girls soccer team will play at around 4 p.m., Alvarado said. 

At 5:30 p.m., the football team will begin its scrimmage, break for the boys soccer team and the cross-country team action at 6:15 p.m., after which the football team will return and finish its game.

The cost of the barbecue, which starts at 5 p.m., is $5 for adults and $3 for school-age children.

“We’ve been planning this since April,” Alvarado said of the driving promotion.

“We hope to see people in Ontario come out and support the high school,” Hart said.

Larry Meyer is a reporter for the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at LarryM@argusobserver.com.