Eurocar on Woodlands Road in Pembroke was still showing the Christmas spirit this week, when they donated $7,500 to local charities.

Eurocar president Richard Davidge and son Stephen Davidge, general manager, handed over $2,500 cheques to Windreach Recreational Village, PALS and Friends of Hospice.

Windreach’s executive director Tina Nash was enchanted.

“When businesses and non-profits come together and work towards changing and uplifting our community magic happens,” Ms Nash said. “This is a great and simple way that businesses can show their support for the community.

“And the community can show their support by making purchases from large and small businesses and non-profits, at the same time.”

Between November and Christmas, Eurocar ran a promotion promising to make a charitable donation for every one of their Kwid Renault cars sold.

At the same time, they were promising a $1,000 discount for customers who bought a red or white Kwid.

“It was a good vehicle to use, because we generally sell a fair amount,” Stephen Davidge said. “It is one of our more popular cars, because of the price point, $17,450.”

Eurocar sold 15 cars during the two month period. The company chose the three charities, then customers had the chance to select which of the three they wanted to support.

Richard Davidge said he was a little relieved when customers chose evenly between the charities, meaning that they all got the same amount.

Stephen Davidge had not had any personal experiences with the chosen charities, but said they are well-known in the community for their good work.

“They were charities that we thought would be worth donating to,” he said.

He said generally, car sales have been down since the pandemic began. In fact, he said they were down somewhat, even before March 2020.

“In the early 2000s we were doing better,” he said. “But the Kwid is a good seller for us. It is a fairly well known car. We have about 400 of them on the road.”

Windreach Recreational Village in Warwick serves people with physical and mental challenges.

Ms Nash, said the money will go to the charity’s general operating costs to ensure that their educational and therapeutic programmes are thriving and the people who are participating in them are benefiting.

She said since the pandemic, Windreach has received a lot of love and support from the community.

“Last year was challenging as it was for all, but it was a year where we were able to reach some real milestones in terms of measuring our outcomes and programmes, and keeping our participants reaching their objectives and goals in terms of their individual programmes,” she said.

“So last year was actually a successful year for us. We felt proud that we were able to be resilient, flex and pivot during challenging times.”

Agape House in Paget provides care for the terminally ill.

Jennifer Mahoney, executive director of Friends of Hospice, the charity that funds Agape House, was extremely grateful for the donation.

“I would like to mirror Tina’s comments exactly about charities and community partners working together,” she said. “It is an absolute must and it certainly benefits the community as a whole. Our funds will be used towards our weekly programme which was formerly the day hospice and has now been renamed Connections.”

PALS in Paget provides care for cancer patients. A PALS representative was unable to attend the cheque presentation, but executive director Colleen English DeGrilla told The Royal Gazette she was happy to receive the donation.

"We wish to express a huge thank you to Eurocar for thinking of PALS and other charities in Bermuda,“ Ms English DeGrilla said.

”The past two years have been difficult for all charities and we know we could not continue what we do without the support of agencies such as Eurocar.“