Dealers for Veterans: Connected Dealer Services Launches Veterans Philanthropic Partnership Program

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Connected Dealer Services (CDS) has partnered with three veteran's non-profit organizations in their new Dealers for Veterans program.

The new car franchise industry has a proud history of employing a large number of veterans in dealership locations across the country. Some dealer organizations, such as Jaguar Land Rover, even have Veterans Careers programs to encourage the hiring of veterans in their dealerships.

CDS is honored to employ a number of veterans, one of whom became the inspiration behind this initiative. Ryan Anselmi, an Elo GPS account manager, served in the Army with distinction for many years. This summer, Ryan shared the tragic news that he had lost two of his brothers to suicide during the height of the recent lockdowns. The CDS leadership team immediately jumped into action to find a way to give back and support the veteran community.

The Dealers for Veterans program focuses on supporting three pillars of need within the veteran community: employment services, mental health and wellness, and wounded warriors and their families. CDS selected one non-profit partner to support each month under each pillar: Hire Heroes USA, Hope For The Warriors, and Fisher House Foundation, respectively.

Hire Heroes USA provides free job search assistance to U.S. military members, veterans, and military spouses, and they help companies connect with opportunities to hire them. Each year the military discharges 270,000 service members. 80% won't have a job lined up and their spouses are four times more likely to be unemployed as well. Helping veterans transition from military service to civilian success is their main focus and they have helped more than 43,000 veterans and spouses move forward in their civilian careers.

Hope For The Warriors provides comprehensive support programs for service members, veterans, and military families that are focused on transition, health and wellness, peer engagement, and connections to community resources. They believe in a holistic approach to well-being and understand that many factors impact a service member's life—family, community, employment, and countless others. As such, their programs take a 360° approach to service, promoting whole-person wellness for each service member they support.

Fisher House Foundation builds comfort homes where military & veterans' families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital. These homes are located at military and VA medical centers around the world. Since its inception, the program has saved over 400,000 military and veterans' families an estimated $500 million in out-of-pocket costs for lodging and transportation. They also run Hero Miles and Hotels for Heroes programs that provide donated airline miles and hotel points to family members to stay near medical centers by their loved one's side.

For each new dealer partner onboarded into the CDS' Elo GPS' lot management program, funds will be allocated to the Dealers for Veterans program and equally distributed to the three non-profit partners each month.

"These men and women are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect our families and our freedom. When they finish their service, they are the ones that need protecting as they transition back into civilian life, because around 20 veterans commit suicide each day. To me, that is unacceptable. We hope this program builds awareness to the needs within the veteran community throughout our dealer partners." says CDS' Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Walpole.

For more information on the program details and how to donate to these outstanding organizations, head to elogps.com/dealers-for-veterans.

SOURCE Connected Dealer Services