November 26, 2016
While it's not unusual for local car dealers to dig deep and support their own communities, there are few that rise to the challenge to the degree of Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine, Texas. Since 2012 Classic Chevrolet employees have put on a charity golf tournament to raise money for local charities benefiting children in need, families facing challenges, orphans, the homeless and the disabled. A special committee formed by the employees of Classic Chevrolet chooses the charities and spends the entire year raising donations and planning the annual tournament now named The Steve Thompson Classic Charity Golf Tournament in honor the late Steve Thompson of The Thompson Group at Classic. In addition to obtaining sponsors and golf teams, every employee of Classic Chevrolet and The Thompson Group at Classic personally donate money through a payroll deduction program.
On November 23, 2016, the annual ceremony to distribute checks to the charities was held during a holiday luncheon attended by employees, charity representatives, sponsors and invited guests. Inspired by owner Tom Durant's challenge to "raise as much money as you can?, the 2016 Steve Thompson Classic has raised another $210,000 again matched dollar for dollar by Tom and Susan Durant for a total of $420,000 bringing the total donations raised since 2012 to a staggering $1,620,000.
Ten local charities received checks for $40,000 each including 6 Stones Mission Network, Christ's Haven, The Angel Fund of Trinity High School, RISE, GRACE, Food for the Soul, V.A.S.T., Community Storehouse, Neuro Fitness and Clubhouse for Special Needs. Another $20,000 was earmarked for The Miracle League.
Mike Zorn, Service Director for Classic Chevrolet addressed the large crowd, "The reason that we do this is to not only raise much needed funds, but also to raise awareness of what these charities do. They are all an extremely important part of our local community and play an enormous role in providing assistance for those in need, working tirelessly and oftentimes completely under the radar. We want to do what we can to shine a light on their contribution to our community."