Ford Kicks Off Drive One 4 UR School Program

You can say whatever you want about the three major American auto makers, and you can even babble about the reasons which hide behind the wish of the three to spend a lot of money on support programs and donations for various organizations. The fact remains that the money given to these projects by GM, Chrysler and Ford make a huge difference for those receiving the money.

Ford, for instance, announced today that its spending in support of high school extracurricular activities nationwide has passed the $5 million mark. As a celebration, if you like, the auto maker unveiled the start of the Drive One 4 UR School program.

Meant as a tool to popularize the line-up of cars currently selling with the Blue Oval stuck on them, the program will see 12 vehicles being deployed to be test-driven in support of the school projects. The mechanism is simple: people go to a Ford dealership, go on their test drive and the car maker and its dealers give up a small amount of money/per test drive for each of the projects supported.

"With oil nearing $100 per barrel and gasoline prices continuing to rise, consumers' consideration for fuel economy once again is taking top billing," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service.

"We have a great opportunity to showcase our fuel-efficient lineup at this year's Drive One 4 UR School events, while at the same time helping schools raise money for valuable programs and activities that might otherwise be eliminated."