After four years, Gustafson Ford is bringing back Drive 4 UR School. The once annual event was put on hiatus by Ford Motor Company during the pandemic, but the company recently announced its return.
“We’ve been waiting for them to bring it back; it’s a good program,” said Courtlin Gustafson with Kewanee’s Gustafson Ford.
Before the program’s hiatus, the local Ford dealership had sponsored the event at several area schools since 2020. The schools benefit when area residents sign up to take a test drive of Ford vehicles. For every test drive, Ford donates $20 to the hosting school.
Owner Kurt Gustafson said the event has been offered to school districts in their sales territory including Kewanee, Wethersfield, Cambridge-AlWood, Princeville, Stark County, Galva and Annawan.
This year, Drive 4 UR School will be held at Kewanee High School on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 9 a.m. to noon.
“The whole point of the event is that we’ll take our products, seven to nine vehicles, ranging from trucks, SUVs, cars, and electric hybrids to the school,” said Courtlin.
People can then register for a time to test drive the vehicle.
“Our goal is to get 300 people to come in and take a test drive and make $6,000 for the school,” said Kurt.
Volunteers help assist with the event and each school “does their own thing,” said Kurt, adding that in the past some schools have sold food or held raffles to raise extra money.
Test drives follow a designated route and those wishing to register for a time slot can do so here. Walk-ins are also welcome.
The money raised from this year’s event will be used by Kewanee schools to fund the Booster Club, which supports all of the schools’ sports, activities and other extras.
The Ford Drive 4 UR School program was developed in 2007 to help Ford dealers showcase their vehicles while raising money for schools by hosting one-day test drive events. Ford donates money per each test drive up to $6,000. With the success of that program, Ford launched a second test drive event called Drive 4 UR Community. Together, those two fundraisers have reached the $35 million milestone for communities and schools.
Kurt said he’s looking forward to the upcoming event and its return.
“It’s been fun to do. It’s fun to see the kids engaged,” he said.
