The longest-running Detroit auto show Charity Preview afterglow is returning this year after a two-year break.
Crain’s Detroit Business
Sherri Welch
The longest-running Detroit auto show Charity Preview afterglow is returning this year after a two-year break.
The Children’s Center of Detroit AutoGlow 2022 is set for Sept. 16 at Ford Field, following the black-tie charity preview of the North American International Auto Show, which is also taking place for the first time since 2019 due to show format changes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event will provide additional funds for the Children’s Center of Detroit, one of six nonprofits benefiting from the Charity Preview.
Ford Motor Co. is returning as presenting sponsor of the event, with Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and Lisa Ford, a member of the nonprofit’s board, returning as co-chairs of the event, along with Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley and his wife, Lia.
“When the auto show was announced, we started getting calls from past sponsors and participants in AutoGlow…saying, ‘We want in,'” said Cheryl Simon, chief philanthropy officer for The Children’s Center.
Word is getting out, and calls are starting to come in for individual tickets priced at $275 each.
About 80% of the money raised through the event comes from sponsorships, Simon said.
So far, sponsors include Oakley Industries, Piston Group, Mutual of America, Ford Field, Hour Magazine, and Levy Restaurants.
The fundraiser for The Children’s Center of Detroit took place every year for 27 years, raising nearly $6 million over that time, Simon said. In 2019, 800 people attended AutoGlow, netting $511,000 for the nonprofit, which is operating on a $22 million budget this year, she said.
The event is important not just for the money it raises but also as a forum to take the nonprofit’s mission and work to a large audience, she said.
“This is a big night in Detroit between Charity Preview and the AutoGlow event. It’s a significant chunk of revenue for the organizations” that benefit, she said.
Taking its lead from the Charity Preview format and available spaces at Ford Field, AutoGlow will include indoor-outdoor spaces this year, on the ground level and in the Gridiron Club upper-level area, Simon said.
The Detroit nonprofit provides nearly 3,500 children and their families with services, including evidence-based, trauma-informed mental and behavioral health services, adoption, foster care and post-foster care services, and basic needs and educational assistance.
View the original article.
