A suburban Chicago dealer has launched a 12 volt charity drive that is quickly gaining support from 12 volt suppliers.
Marty Deane owner of Soundz Plus, Naperville, IL wanted to give back to the community following the success of his upscale car audio shop.
He devised a benefit raffle for St. Jude’s Research Hospital with 12 volt prizes. It has already raised $10,000 in prize donations from car audio suppliers.
Anyone, but particularly members of the 12 volt industry, can go to Go Fund Me to donate $20 or more to enter the raffle to win prizes such as a fabrication class from Bryan Schmitt of Mobile Solutions or products from vendors including Sony, Audiofrog, SounDigital, Ground Zero, Focal, K40, Mid City Engineering, SoundSkins, NAV-TV, Escort, Helix and BLAM (MSC) and others.
Each $20 donation is assigned a raffle ticket number which enters you into the contest.
The goal is to raise $50,000 for the hospital. The winners will be announced at Christmastime.
“I am blown away by the support from my friends and colleagues in this industry. I am very proud to call them my 12 volt family,” said Deane, who added that Anthony Tozzi of Sony and Chris Bennett of AudioControl were the first to step up to the plate.
Bennett’s son, Riley, at six years old had a brain tumor and was treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “It was a life saver…28 days of being in the hospital. He had three brain surgeries,” he said. “One day he fell down at school and once he fell down, he was not able to stand up straight and keep his balance.” Riley is now 9 and tumor free and enjoys playing sports. Bennett noted that a hospital stay such as Riley’s can cost a half million dollars. “$50,000 seems like a small drop in the bucket, but what a huge difference that makes for people who don’t have insurance,” he said.
Sony gave a generous prize donation of a 65-inch TV and a pair of $2,300 headphones. Its employees have raised $1,500 so far on their own for the raffle. AudioControl has donated a high end home receiver valued at $850.
At the time of the raffle, all the ticket numbers assigned to donations will be gathered and the winner chosen randomly.
Deane has owned Soundz Plus for over 20 years. The shop caters to upscale clients and it recently moved into an exclusive auto mall called Iron Gate Motor Plaza where the shop is next door to other automotive shops including a detailer and a high end mechanic. Deane said his sales jumped 30 percent last year and he was moved to give back to the community.
Deane is a regular donor to St. Jude’s Hospital. His friends’ children had cancer and were treated successfully at St. Jude.
St. Jude claims it is “leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
As a research hospital it focuses on certain types of cancer. Children with one of those particular cancers may be treated at no charge.
Photo: Soundz Plus
Way to go Marty !
Great to hear.
At Best Buy every Q4 we offer the chance to donate, even round up to the nearest dollar for St. Judes.. it’s been a huge success. That place costs $1Million per day to run from what I’ve been told. They need the help. And any family that’s had the chance to be helped by St. Judes can tell you just how powerful it is. Their research helps pave the way to cutting down the fatality rate on childhood cancers and any step forward there is a win.