Did Serra Subaru Champaign go above and beyond, provide exceptional service, or support causes that are important to you? We'd love to hear about it.
We are honored to be nationally recognized by Subaru of America, Inc. for our dedication to our customers, our community, and the Subaru Love Promise.
The 2024 Subaru Love Promise Community Commitment Award recognizes elite Subaru retailer who provide an exceptional customer experience at every interaction with Subaru. These retailers have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to supporting passions and causes in their local communities in important areas such as environment, community, health, education, and pets.
Here at Serra Subaru Champaign, we love our community as much as we love our vehicles and are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of all of our customers and neighbors.
Subaru and our retailers believe in making the world a better place and the Subaru Love Promise is our vision of respecting all people. This is our commitment to show love and respect to our customers and to work to make a positive impact in the world.
Did Serra Subaru Champaign go above and beyond, provide exceptional service, or support causes that are important to you? We'd love to hear about it.
SUBMIT A STORYIn a perfect world, hunger would be history and hope would be commonplace. We believe a perfect world is possible.
In 2020, Subaru and its retailers made a donation to Feeding America to provide 50 million meals to help feed people in need during the COVID-19 crisis,* making meals available at 199 local food banks across the country.
*$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks.
Subaru and our retailers are committed to protecting and preserving the Earth, not just by our words, but also by our actions.
More than 13 million pieces of hard-to-recycle waste collected and recycled through TerraCycle®.
Subaru believes we all should have a chance to lead a healthy life. That's why Subaru and its retailers, like us, partner with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) and their local hospital or cancer treatment center to give warm blankets and encouraging messages of hope, written by retailers and Subaru customers in their stores, to support patients facing cancer. Through our partnership with LLS, we've supported nearly 350,000 cancer patients nationwide. We're proud to be LLS's largest automotive donor.
Subaru and its retailers, like us, are continuing our support of education and high-needs schools in our communities through Subaru Loves Learning(R) by providing teachers across the country with funding to purchase the school supplies and resources they know are needed to help students thrive in the classroom. Through our partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, Subaru and its retailers will have supported more than 470,000 students nationwide and are proud to be their largest corporate supporter.
Subaru believes all pets deserve a loving home. That's why Subaru and its retailers, like us, partner with a local animal shelter every October to provide direct financial assistance and host adoption events to help animals find loving homes. Through our partnership with local and national organizations, we have donated over $51 million, which has supported the adoption, rescue, transport, and health of over 420,000 animals. We're proud to be the largest corporate donor to the ASPCA.
Subaru and its retailers believe in giving back to our communities. That's why for every new vehicle sold or leased during the Subaru Share the Love event, Subaru and its retailers, like us, makes a donation to national charities that our owners care about and to over 2,100 local charities where Subaru owners live and work.
Now, after 15 years, Subaru and our retailers have donated over $256 million to charity all to give back and to make the world a better place.
We believe in making the world a better place and the Subaru Love Promise is our vision of respecting all people.
Champaign County Humane Society
Developmental Services Center
Franklyn Middle School
Restoration Urban Ministries
Subaru and Serra Subaru Champaign believe in making a positive impact on the communities in which we live and work. We uphold that belief through our Love Promise Community Commitment. Every month, we select inspiring stories from customers and partners from around our area who strive to support our collective commitment and feature them here.
For years, Serra Subaru Champaign has demonstrated community support through its partnership with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and Christie Clinic via the Subaru Loves to Care initiative. This program delivers blankets, patient care kits, and heartfelt messages to cancer patients. On June 26th, the dealership's team made a special delivery to Christie Clinic, providing warmth and support to patients. The blankets offered comfort, the care kits included essential items, and the handwritten messages conveyed kindness. The heartfelt visit deeply touched patients and their families, reaffirming the community's support. The initiative fosters hope and solidarity in the fight against cancer. Serra Subaru Champaign's ongoing commitment to this cause continues to make a meaningful difference in patients' lives.
Three years ago Darrin Hightower, Jr. decided to start his own non-profit, DK2, to help underprivileged children in the community because helping others is what he does best. The 3rd Annual 100 Hair Cuts Event provided free hair cuts, bounce houses, face painting, food, music and fun to over 175 kids this year thanks to the exclusive sponsorship from Serra Subaru Champaign. Darrin also provides free tuition to Schlarman Academy for students in need. Darrin has worked at Serra Champaign for the past three years where he has excelled at sales and building customer relationships. He was recently named one of 40 Under 40 award winners in The News-Gazette. To find out more about this event please visit www.darrinskids2.org
We are so incredibly grateful for our local Subaru retailer, Serra Subaru Champaign, for the support they give us year round. It becomes EXPONENTIALLY more gratifying when one of their employees directly supports our mission through the adoption of a pet. Moji, a 7-year-old Shih Tzu mix, came to CCHS after his owner was admitted to the hospital with a condition that left them no longer able to care for a pet. For about a month, Moji was our little dog with a BIG personality. Enter someone else with an equally sparkling personality: Executive Assistant Ashley M. from Serra Champaign! So when she and her two kids came to visit the shelter earlier in October, they met Moji and fell in love with him the same way we did: RIGHT AWAY! Without a second thought (even though the kids really, REALLY wanted a puppy), they decided to adopt this 7-year-old pup and give him a forever home. Their story is a testament to the power of adoption, the unbreakable connection between humans and animals, and the profound impact of love on every heart involved. We hope their story also becomes a beacon of hope for others, a reminder that families come in all shapes and sizes, bound together by love... and belly rubs... but mostly love.
Because of your generous donation, the 2nd Annual Celebrity Basketball Game was a huge success. This year's event was great for our community and we were able to bless seven 2023 high school graduates with college scholarships. On behalf of the scholarship recipients, Illinois Basketball Club, and IBC Foundation, thank you!
Thank you so much for being a 2023 Sponsor for A Pace for Petey / Jakes Jog! We greatly appreciate your generosity that will help aid those in recovery from substance use disorder. Sincerely, The Scribner Family
Christie Clinic Departments of Hematology/Oncology and Radiation Oncology thank Serra Subaru for their generous donation of blankets and care kits. These will be gifted to patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. We appreciate Serra Subaru for thinking of Christie Clinic and our patients and for helping make a difference in our patients lives.
Let me first start out by saying that when a pet from our shelter gets adopted, one of our staff members does an all-page throughout the building to let everyone know who is going home. On this particular day, it was an all-page for one of our long-term residents, a 3-year-old dog named Piper. Through no fault of her own or her previous owners, this was Piper's 4th time being at the Champaign County Humane Society. In her 3 years of life, she has spent nearly 10 months of it at CCHS. This last time she was with us for nearly 70 days before getting adopted. So, it stands to reason when a pet is with us for that long, staff and volunteers get to know them pretty well. When it was finally Piper's Go-Home Day, staff members and volunteers who were at the shelter at the time of the appointment each got a moment to give her some goodbye pets and in turn, Piper gave everyone goodbye kisses. Some of our staff even helped load her into her new owner's car... a Subaru! As they drove out of the parking lot, the all-page went out saying, "Attention Champaign County Humane Society: Piper has gone to her new home in a Subaru!" Thank you for your continued support of CCHS and sharing our commitment to animal welfare. Without it, dogs like Piper might never get those second, third, and even fourth chances.
Serra Subaru stepped forward to be a Platinum-Level sponsor for the 2022 edition of Champaign County Humane Society's Annual "Mutt Strut" dog-walk/pet-fair/fund-raiser event. Besides a sponsor fee, Serra Subaru provided and staffed a booth where attendees could dress and photograph their pets. They also provided a selection of free pet-related SWAG that attendees could choose from, including bandanas, clip-on collar safety lights, and frisbees. CCHS is not funded by any local, state, county, or federal government entity, nor any national humane organization, so fundraising events like the Mutt Strut are vital, allowing them to continue to fulfill their mission as the only open-admission animal shelter in the area. Thanks the generosity of sponsors like Serra Subaru, and the efforts of the attendees, CCHS was able to raise over $18,500 at the 2022 Mutt Strut! CCHS is grateful to Serra Subaru's ongoing support for this event.
On August 30th, Serra Subaru generously donated 15 boxes of classroom supplies to help teachers at Franklin STEAM Academy kick off the year. Two weeks later, 15 teachers at Franklin received grants from Subaru, allowing them to purchase additional supplies specific to their individual needs and lesson plans. Franklin STEAM Academy is a Magnet School at the Junior High level in the Champaign, IL, Public School District. At Franklin, teachers use a collaborative, project-based approach to education, interweaving Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math in a curriculum that encourages students to use imagination and grit to solve real-world problems. Donations and grants, like those received from Serra and Subaru, allow our teachers to enrich the students' experiences, keeping them more engaged in the learning process. Franklin STEAM Academy is grateful for the support!
Cashew is one of those dogs who had a rough go for a while, but thanks to the safety net provided by CCHS through the support of our community and community partners like Serra Subaru, she has now found her forever home! Cashew is a 4-year-old American Bully with a soft, brindle coat and beautiful, ice blue eyes. She had been used for breeding, giving birth to multiple litters prior to being relinquished to our shelter. Her ears had also been cropped. Pair that with her piercing gaze, Cashew's appearance was a bit intimidating. She was also timid around strangers, which is likely why she became one of our long term residents. It would be 45 days before she got adopted. In that time, though, she became a favorite of CCHS staff and volunteers. Once she warmed up to you, she would shower you with affection, wanting belly rubs and butt scratches in return! And now she has that every day in her new home. Happy endings like Cashew's would not be possible without the support we get from Serra Subaru. We're grateful for their dedication to our mission and shining the spotlight on "underdogs" during the month of October!
This summer, the Charles W. Christie Cancer Center in Champaign received numerous blankets and arts & craft kits for their patients provided by the Serra Subaru team and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Illinois Region Chapter. These comforting gifts were also accompanied by personalized messages of hope cards written by customers and staff of Serra Subaru. Items of comfort like these show support and love to the Christie Clinic’s cancer patients as they navigate their diagnosis and treatment journey. Many thanks to everyone at Serra Subaru and the Charles W. Christie Cancer Center for supporting LLS's mission to cure blood cancers and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
We are so incredibly thankful that we can count on support from our pet-loving friends at Serra Subaru Champaign throughout the year! We especially look forward to partnering with them in October to help get "underdogs" adopted into new, loving homes. That's why I want to tell you about an EXTRA LARGE underdog named Blu. Blu is 5-year-old, nearly 100-pound Pitbull/American bulldog mix who was relinquished to CCHS because his owners could no longer care for him. When Blu arrived at the shelter, he had a lot of fur loss and dry, irritated skin from chronic allergies that caused the skin condition alopecia. While at the shelter, his skin made improvements with the help of a special prescription diet and medications. In addition to his skin condition and allergies, he became one of our long-term residents. Blu was at CCHS for 125 days before someone who recognized what a joy adopting an underdog could bring! Without the unwavering support of partners like Serra Subaru, we would not be able to provide the level of care that we give to all pets like Blu who find themselves at our shelter.
We are so incredibly thankful that we can count on support from our pet-loving friends at Serra Subaru Champaign throughout the year! We especially look forward to partnering with them in October to help get "underdogs" adopted into new, loving homes. That's why I want to tell you about an EXTRA LARGE underdog named Blu. Blu is 5-year-old, nearly 100-pound Pitbull/American bulldog mix who was relinquished to CCHS because his owners could no longer care for him. When Blu arrived at the shelter, he had a lot of fur loss and dry, irritated skin from chronic allergies that caused the skin condition alopecia. While at the shelter, his skin made improvements with the help of a special prescription diet and medications. In addition to his skin condition and allergies, he became one of our long-term residents. Blu was at CCHS for 125 days before someone who recognized what a joy adopting an underdog can bring! Without the unwavering support of partners like Serra Subaru Champaign, we would not be able to provide the level of care that we give to all the pets like Blu who find themselves at our shelter. Blu was adopted on October 1, and has been happy and healthy in his new forever home since then!
We at the Champaign County Humane Society are so thankful for Serra Subaru Champaign's commitment to our organization and our mission! They support us by sponsoring annual events like "Mutt Strut-Cat Nap", "Fur Ball", "PAWtraits with Santa" and more! And they go beyond just sponsoring these events to have their name associated with them... they show up to the events and support us in person! Visiting the team at the dealership is always such a treat, too! It's apparent that Subaru's passion for supporting local charities is reflected in its staff. At our check presentation recently, it was delightful to talk with team members about their pets and how much joy and love they get back from their furbabies! And it's clear that they LOVE working for a company that values giving back to charities in their hometown. Serra Subaru Champaign's ongoing support allows us to further our mission of preventing cruelty to animals, promoting animal welfare, educating the public about the humane care and treatment of animals, increasing public awareness of the companion animal overpopulation issue and providing solutions, and providing high quality shelter, medical, and adoption services for animals.
2021 has been a struggle for Special Olympics Illinois Region I as we prepare to rise from a pandemic that has devastatingly affected over 1,445 athletes and their families. We are struggling to be able to hold our competitions and trainings in person. We are more than a sports organization we provide our athletes with leadership opportunities and a chance to be a part of the inclusion movement in our Nation. Like Subaru we like to" Share the Love" with people at the center of our mission. The face to face inner action is the positive environment that we all succeed and thrive in. Our athletes being of the vulnerable population are slowly returning to sports training and competitions as well as leadership and unified roles that are at the heart of our organization. Serra Subaru Champaign's Share the Love campaign has provided hope and new life for our local program. This campaign has filled the void for the funds needed to once again pay for expenses incurred from holding competitions, education, outreach, awareness and training. We will be able to continue to provide a quality sports programming and education free of charge to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Illinois Region I receives no federal funding or assistance from the United Way or similar agencies. Our organization survives solely on donations from fundraisers, organizations, civic and fraternal foundations and corporations like Subaru. The funds will specifically be used for equipment, awards, food, facility rentals, athlete transportation and leadership education materials. Our athletes, their families and coaches sincerely thank Serra Subaru Champaign for their support. Please know that these funds will directly benefit the athletes we serve. Love...it is what makes everything we do have Purpose! The Love Subaru has shown Special Olympics Illinois Region I has given our organization the life and love we need to continue beyond the pandemic and into the future. We look forward to continuing to build on our relationship with Serra Subaru Champaign and the Share the Love Campaign.
Just recently, Serra Subaru Champaign acquired tickets for the 2021 NCAA Men’s College Basketball Final Four Championship weekend. We had four tickets for Saturday, both games and four tickets for Monday nights championship game. The seats were exceptional, in the lower level 100, as close to the action as one could reasonably get. Being Easter weekend, I told my son that we had tickets and that we were going to have a fun weekend with his brother and my wife. He recalled how years ago he and I had attended the Final Four as someone had given us tickets, and what a special experience it was. He also reminded me that it wasn’t just about watching the basketball game live, but also about all the drama around the game, the hype of the weekend, the excitement in and around the venue and all the famous people we "rubbed elbows" with. He reminded me that, for our own reasons, we really needed a break when we we’re given those tickets. He talked about how it changed our whole mood and how he always remembers how it made him feel. That's when I knew we would give the tickets away. I knew that our team at Serra Subaru Champaign would support the idea of giving the tickets away rather than selling them or using them ourselves. That’s how we got the idea to provide the experience of a lifetime for someone else. Someone in the community—maybe some kids who never had a chance like this in the past not in the foreseeable future. Someone with the deck stacked against them, or seemingly so. Someone having a tough time and just needing a “lift“. I reached out to Steve Khachaturian, (Stevie Jay), who is a friend an owner of a local radio station. Stevie is very involved in the community with many groups who focus on young people and providing them with positive leadership. I knew Steve would know of the right folks who would be excited to go. He introduced me to Willie Comer and Kent Hollis who organize, fund, and facilitate the Youth for Christ Midnight Basketball program in Champaign. This is a very large group of young kids, impoverished and at risk due to socio economic circumstances, with little or no parental support. These kids, like many I have been involved with before, have a little or no positive role models, let alone extraordinary and positive experiences in their lives. I told Stevie that I wanted some kids who just “needed a break“. Someone that we could really “wow“. Both Willie and Kent each took three young boys in the program and one group went on Saturday to both games and the other group went Monday night for the championship game. My son and I went and met with Willie and then also with Kent and the three boys he took on Saturday. We gave both men and all of the boys an envelope with some spending cash and some prepaid credit cards for fuel and expenses. We gave each of the boys an envelope with a note and a $20 bill for spending money at the game, and a Dominos pizza gift card “...to be used one evening when you’re up late studying!” The boys we met were so jazzed as they departed for the drive to Indianapolis for the game. Afterwards, Willie and Kent went on the Stevie Jay radio show and talked for a while about the game and the experience the boys had. They talked about their seats being so good and that Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley sat BEHIND them. I’ve been fortunate enough to have attended many sporting events including the “Final Four”, but I will never experience the excitement I felt knowing that we created an experience of a lifetime for these kids who have seen and experienced horrors you only see in the movies. Our hope is that they will always be able to call upon the feeling of excitement, joy and satisfaction when they need hope for the future.
Mobile Mutts Rescue Transports ( 501 (c) (3) ), based in Champaign, IL wanted to provide free pet Microchipping in our area, to do that we needed somewhere that had space available. After talking to other animal rescuers in the area, we were told that the Subaru dealer might be able to help us out. Fingers and paws crossed we contacted the dealership. What happened next was truly an act of Love that we never expected. Serra Subaru not only provided volunteers to help us but opened up their entire showroom for us to use and provided free "goodies" for the pets that were microchipped. With the Covid outbreak, we needed space to safely provide microchipping for area pets. With safety protocols in place, we were able to hold two successful free microchipping clinics. In total 94 pets received free microchips and registration thanks to Serra Subaru. We had volunteers from not only Mobile Mutts and Serra Subaru, but from the U of I College of Veterinary Medicine (chipping the pets). A whole community came together to help pet owners during the Covid outbreak and did it in a very safe environment for the community and volunteers. In rescue work, it's always about the animals, doing what is needed for them. It was very clear that Subaru has embraced the idea that "where there is a will, there is a way". We cannot thank Ben, Carleen and all the people at Serra Subaru enough for standing with Mobile Mutts and the entire rescue community for making it possible for animal lovers to now have a way to be reunited with their pets if they are ever lost. Going above and beyond is really an understatement when it comes to the support we received, because it wasn't just for us, it was for the community and the entire world of animal rescue. Subaru has set a high standard in the business industry, not just because of all they did for our organization, but the fact they made it clear they would be there to help us and other organizations when there is a need.
Did Serra Subaru Champaign go above and beyond, provide exceptional service, or support causes that are important to you? We'd love to hear about it.
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