LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM), the four-level, 165,000-square-foot facility that opened last June in Tacoma, Wash., today announced it will launch a community-focused program in Jan. 2013 titled “Giving a Break.” The $100,000 museum initiative includes an alliance with United Way Pierce County to distribute ACM tickets to the area’s economically challenged, including veterans, children and elderly persons.
“A large portion of the funding for our museum came from our community,” said ACM President and CEO David Madeira. “Consequently, we feel a deep obligation to give back to our city. The Giving a Break program is about making our world-class attraction accessible to everyone in the community, regardless of income or economic challenges. After all, this is America’s Car Museum.”
In addition to distributing museum tickets through United Way Pierce County’s network of local charities, Giving a Break will include ACM membership and event space donations to select community non-profits in the military, education and philanthropy sectors.
“We recognize the importance of local attractions supporting and giving back to their community,” said Rick Allen, president and CEO of United Way Pierce County. “ACM’s Giving a Break initiative is aimed at making the arts available to everyone in Tacoma, which is something we strongly support. In this economic climate, we are finding those at the lower end of the economic scale being more and more cut off from even everyday family activities. Today, it’s difficult for some to afford a movie for the family, a park entrance fee or a ballgame. We’re very enthusiastic to participate in this deserving local effort sponsored by America’s Car Museum.”
Madeira said the Giving a Break launch means ACM will no longer participate in Tacoma’s “Free Third Thursdays” program.
“We want to make ACM available to Tacoma’s less-fortunate as often as possible,” said Madeira. “Giving a Break allows us to support and directly invest in our city’s residents and businesses seven days a week.”
For more information on ACM’s Giving a Break program, visit www.lemaymuseum.org.
About America’s Car Museum (www.lemaymuseum.org)
State Farm Presents LeMay – America’s Car Museum, which opened June 2, 2012 in downtown Tacoma, Wash., explores how the automobile has fulfilled a distinctive role at the core of the American experience and shaped our society. The spacious Museum with rotating exhibits is designed to be the centerpiece for automotive history as well as an educational center and library. The campus, located adjacent to the Tacoma Dome, also contains a 3.5-acre show field, theatre, café, banquet hall and meeting facilities. To get information on museum hours, becoming an ACM member, volunteer opportunities or to make a donation, visit www.lemaymuseum.org.