Progressive® Gives Away 117 Refurbished Vehicles to Deserving Military Members
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio — November 4, 2014 — This Veterans Day, more than 100 veterans and their families will be getting the keys to newly refurbished vehicles as part of The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies' annual Keys to Progress®program. In partnership with the National Auto Body Council (NABC) and several other organizations, the vehicle giveaways will take place on November 11th at 57 of Progressive's Service Centers, one-stop facilities where Progressive handles claims and coordinates repairs for customers.
Progressive is working together with local NABC member body shops to recycle and donate vehicles that have been involved or recovered in a claim. They've been fully restored for the veterans as an extension of the NABC Recycled RidesTM project. At 117 vehicles, it's the single largest vehicle donation in the seven years of the Recycled Rides project.
"We chose our Service Centers as the event locations because they're the one-stop-shops where people get back on the road after an accident," said Tricia Griffith, president of customer operations for Progressive. "By expanding our Keys to Progress program this year, we hope to get more veterans and their families back on the road and moving forward in life."
This is the second year that Progressive worked alongside National Auto Body Council, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, 1-800-Charity Cars and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW). NABC member shops volunteer staff and resources to repair the vehicles. Enterprise Rent-A-Car provides insurance for each donated vehicle for the first six months. The insurance policies are written by local Progressive agents. The VFW serves as the primary source for identifying the most worthy recipients. 1-800-Charity Cars facilitates the donation of the vehicles.
New partners for Keys to Progress this year include VRC Investigations, a veteran-owned and operated organization that helped support the recipient selection process, and two national salvage vendors— Copart and Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. (IAA) — which together donated 15 of the vehicles.
"Recycled Rides is a labor of love for every single member of NABC and we are humbled that Progressive has nearly doubled the amount of cars donated this year," said Chuck Sulkala, executive director of National Auto Body Council. "With transportation, these veterans and their families have access to basic necessities many of us take for granted like medical treatment, jobs and education."
Progressive Service Centers participating in Keys to Progress are located in the following cities (some cities have multiple locations and will have multiple vehicles being given away):
Arizona: Phoenix
California: Pasadena, San Diego, Sacramento
Colorado: Denver
Connecticut: Hartford, New Haven
Florida: Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach
Georgia: Atlanta
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Indianapolis
Kansas: Kansas City
Louisiana: Baton Rouge, New Orleans
Maryland: Baltimore
Massachusetts: Boston
Michigan: Detroit
Minnesota: Minneapolis
Missouri: St. Louis
Nebraska: Omaha
Nevada: Las Vegas
New Jersey: South Plainfield
New York: Albany, Buffalo
Ohio: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City
Oregon: Portland
Pennsylvania: Chester County, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia
Rhode Island: Providence
Texas: Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio
Utah: Salt Lake City
Virginia: Springfield, Virginia Beach
Washington, D.C.
Washington: Seattle
Wisconsin: Milwaukee
About Progressive
The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies makes it easy to understand, buy and use auto insurance. Progressive offers choices so consumers can reach it whenever, wherever and however it's most convenient—online at progressive.com, by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE, on a mobile device or in-person with a local agent.
Progressive also offers insurance for personal and commercial autos and trucks, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, as well as home insurance through select carriers. It's the fourth largest auto insurer in the country, the largest seller of motorcycle insurance and a leader in commercial auto insurance. Progressive also offers car insurance online in Australia at http://www.progressiveonline.com.au.
Founded in 1937, Progressive continues its long history of offering shopping tools and services that save customers time and money, like Name Your Price®, Snapshot®, and Service Centers.
The Common Shares of The Progressive Corporation, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based holding company, trade publicly at NYSE:PGR.