Blog

Dimmitt recently provided a CPR Certification Course for it's associates! We were visited by an expert American Red Cross Instructor who delivered an extremely informative and hands-on demonstration that gave team members the skills and confidence to make the workplace a safer space. For more than a century, the American Red Cross has prepared people to respond to emergencies of all sizes - from the everyday to the large disaster. We're thankful to have had them provide us with instruction! [gallery link="file" ids="304411,304410,304413,304414,304415,304416,304417"]

Cheval Golf Tournament SUNDAY, JUNE 10 — Dimmitt was the title sponsor of the Chef’s School of Chop Golf Tournament and tasting at Cheval. You could find all of the cars just behind the tasting area where there was a putting contest happening. We were joined by the St. Petersburg Distillery, who donated bottles of vodka to putt at. The goal was to make a putt and hit a bottle of Banyan Vodka. You win a bottle of vodka and then all of the money raised would go towards Children’s Home Network. This was the second year the Chef’s School of Chop has had this tournament and it was a great success yet again. Children’s Home Network has been around since the late 1800s when it was started by Miss Carrie Hammerly. It began as one small house where she took care of a few children and grew into a large organization with an 88-acre campus, as well as six other locations throughout Florida, taking care of over 25,000 kids and families. The mission of Children’s Home Network is to unlock the potential of at-risk children and families by providing compassionate and effective services that create opportunities for success. They provide eight services to try to help every person that walks through their doors. Everyone has their own unique story, so they have to be able to help in many different ways. In December 2015 they created an Adolescents in Motherhood program. They also have their own foster families team that works on finding the best families for the kids that they support. Their main goal is to make sure these kids and families are given the opportunities to live a successful like. They help them overcome neglect and abuse, as well as tutoring them, and eventually helping them find the perfect home. We hope everyone who attended the event had a great time and got a chance to check out some of our cars and win themselves a bottle!

The YMCA Summer Palooza SATURDAY, JUNE 9 — Audi Wesley Chapel sponsored the New Tampa Family YMCA Summer Palooza! It was a fun-filled day for the local members of the YMCA that included games, pool floats, and food. Because the team at Audi Wesley Chapel wants to be a part of the community, Audi has become a large sponsor for the YMCA and looks forward to continuously sponsoring events for them. There was a tent at the event to reach out to the locals and get them asking questions about Audi and everything it has to offer. After Audi Wesley Chapel’s recent opening this past November, they find it crucial to get out into the community to show their faces and meet the neighbors. The New Tampa YMCA is a great organization for Audi Wesley Chapel to sponsor because they stand for much more than just being a gym. They focus on Youth Development, Social Responsibility, and Healthy Living. The Y offers many activities for kids to join in on, including summer camps, after-school care, and a community learning center. The Y also collaborates with many organizations in Hillsborough county that create an environment that helps families and kids be successful. Lastly, the YMCA is a gym and strives to help the community live a healthier life. They offer different programs and classes focused on disease prevention and healthier eating. Overall, the New Tampa YMCA is an organization that we love being a part of. By sponsoring events like the Summer Palooza, we are taking part in their goal of helping the kids and families in the community. We hope everyone that came to the Summer Palooza enjoyed themselves, and keep an eye out for upcoming events! [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="303746,303745,303744"]

On Saturday, May 19, Dimmitt volunteered at the Kids Place in Brandon for the Pirate Plunder Carnival. It was the 5 th Annual Pirate Party offering the kids a fun-filled day of food, fun, and games. A Kids Place is a unique non-profit organization in Tampa providing foster care and a loving home for abused, neglected, or abandoned children. It has been around for the past nine years, helping kids from newborns all the way up to age 18. They have helped almost 600 families since their opening, and with the help from the community, they have a great future ahead of them as well. They are currently taking care of 1,300 kids across their five homes in Brandon. Each of these houses has caregivers to give the kids a family lifestyle feeling, as it’s extremely important for the kids to feel loved and cared for while they are staying there. A Kid's Place goal is for each child to be provided an enriching experience that will instill hope, encourage growth, and allow for continued healing in a nurturing environment. This is made possible with our community partners as they help A Kid's Place offer sibling togetherness, a loving, family-like environment, coordination of services, on-site therapy services, targeted case management to support children and their families, on-site dental services, educational services, and on-site pre-kindergarten and toddler programs. Events like the Pirate Plunge Carnival allow kids to get out and have some fun with people from the community. It also allows the community to see how special this organization is and how the kids are positively impacted. We hope to continue to be a part of the journey in helping them impact the lives of so many children. A huge thank you to A Kid’s Place for letting us be a part of you Pirate Plunge Carnival, and we hope everyone who came had a great time! [gallery link="file" ids="303996,303995,303994"]

On Saturday, June 2nd, Dimmitt took part in the hole-in-one competition at the Abe Brown Golf Tournament. Whoever hit a hole-in-one would win a 2018 Cadillac, courtesy of Dimmitt. With the first tournament taking place seven years ago, Dimmitt has been involved with this event from the start. We love to be involved with such a great organization, and over the past seven years, The Abe Brown Golf Tournament has raised over $155,000. This year’s total came to $15,000 raised and all of the proceeds go toward Abe Brown Ministries. Abe Brown Ministries was started by Rev. Brown almost 34 years ago. Their mission is to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ by helping offenders and ex-offenders, as well as their families, achieve productive and fulfilling lives. Abe Brown was originally a teacher and football coach for the Hillsborough community and began his journey ministering to his former players. He realized he had only taught them football and not life skills to be successful. Since then, he has dedicated his life to helping the community through showing the love of Jesus Christ. “The mission at Abe Brown Ministries is to minister to those in prison and provide an appropriate plan of care upon their release," said Robert Blount, president of Abe Brown Ministries. The ministry does more than preach to those in prison, though. They want to help the families that are being affected as well. The money that is raised goes towards having a food pantry, clothes, and furniture for those who need it. They also provide transportation to prisons across Florida, as well as video conferencing that allows families to keep in touch. The Abe Brown Golf Tournament is a huge event for the ministry and it brings in a lot of money for the organization. Dimmitt is proud to say that we have been a part of this event from the start and we hope to be able to keep helping the organization in any way possible!

On Saturday, May 12, Charity Works hosted the 18th Annual Monopoly Night, where Dimmitt was one of many sponsors for the event. Monopoly Night is the major annual fund-raising event including auctions and prizes to benefit Charity Works, Inc that brings people together to experience a live monopoly game with a life-size jail. Dimmitt worked with Malios to auction off a chauffeured evening in a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, along with a gift card to dinner. It was an evening to remember! Charity Works has been around since 1996 and is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida. They have been active in numerous philanthropic activities, including fund-raising events benefiting thousands of disadvantaged and underprivileged children and adults. Their mission is to “Help Those Who Help Others.” They promote charitable giving and aid tax-exempt organizations by assisting them in managing their funds more effectively when used to acquire needed resources from others. In other words, they use their network to help other nonprofits get the best deals on products and services to help their organizations. Their overall goal is to help those in need as well as assist their volunteers. They have a CAN (Charitable Alliance Network), which directly benefits nonprofits by providing the following purchasing advisory services: Matching needs with product specifications/service requirements Locating qualified vendors/suppliers that can provide specialized pricing Securing the best pricing possible on requested merchandise/services to meet budgetary requirements Negotiating contract terms between donors, vendors and nonprofits Purchasing and logistics consultation and support assistance Providing administrative support services in all areas of nonprofit operation. This year, over $120,000 was raised, and Dimmitt is proud to have been part of the event! [gallery link="file" ids="303997,303998,303999,304000,304001"]

Thursday, May 31 — Audi Wesley Chapel took part in the Swearing in Ceremony for the Pasco County Sheriffs Department. Joe Petrillo, the General Manager of Audi Wesley Chapel, presented the Servant Leadership Award to Corporal Andrew Denbo. This award represents dedication, character, and leadership to the Pasco County Sheriffs Department and Community. The first quarter awards also noticed many other officers. Corporal Andrew Denbo was acknowledged for an arrest he made earlier in the year, where he was involved in a pursuit that led him into a swamp to catch a man who had previously assaulted another officer. Acts like these should not go unnoticed and Audi Wesley Chapel was happy to acknowledge his hard work and bravery. We want to thank all of the men and women who are continuously putting their lives at risk to keep the rest of us safe. And a special thank you to the Pasco County Sheriffs office for allowing us to participate in their awards ceremony. [gallery link="file" ids="304004,304005,304006"]

This past weekend was the 8th Annual JK Cancer Fund Drive Away Cancer golf outing! The JK Cancer Fund Inc. is a Nonprofit Organization started in 2010 by Cody Millian as his senior project for Mitchell High School. Cody started the first Drive Away Cancer Golf Outing to keep the memory of his grandfather, John Kubek alive. John was one of the most amazing people Cody knew, and he died of stage four cancer in his bones, liver, and lungs. But the Drive Away Cancer Golf Outing has become so much more and has taken on a bigger meaning. In 2011, Cody’s mom was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer and in 2014 his other grandfather, Mike Millian, passed away from cancer. Cody’s passion to Drive Away Cancer gets stronger all the time. The JK Cancer Fund gives 100% back to local charities right here in our community including: Funding the  LIVESTRONG at the YMCA Program at the James P. Gills Family YMCA in Trinity. The program helps survivors who have gone through cancer treatment regain their muscle strength and flexibility while building a strong sense of connection with other survivors. The Cheval Cares 5K Family Run benefiting the Pediatric Cancer Foundation Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Pasco Pediatric Foundation Golf Tournament Dimmitt sponsored a foursome which included a few of our employees! We didn't take home the trophy but had an amazing time at this year's event and can't wait for next year!

Today a group of Dimmitt employees put on their water shoes and headed to the the docks to meet up with the AMIkids! AMIkids is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth develop into responsible and productive citizens. AMIkids' mission is to protect public safety and positively impact as many youth as possible through the efforts of a diverse and innovative staff. AMIkids works in partnership with youth agencies, local communities and families. Today's school lesson included an overall explanation of the Tampa Bay ecosystem and how it functions. We also performed a plankton tow along with testing of the salinity in the region. After these areas were covered, we waded around a local mangrove region and collected samples from the environment including small organisms, shells, plant life, etc. Throughout the trip the students had the opportunity to look at their findings under microscopes and even have the opportunity to drive the 65ft research vessel. The kids thought of it as a huge video game but they did a great job at keeping it somewhat straight and not giving us all seasickness hahah! The day ended on a good note as they got to watch dolphins jumping along side the boat! We at Dimmitt are proud to support and organization that's mission is to improve the lives of these kids and strengthening our communities! [gallery size="medium" type="rectangular" link="file" ids="302519,302520,302521,302522,302523,302524,302525,302526,302527" orderby="rand"]

There are so many car shows that happen every weekend in Florida but only a few support charities! At Dimmitt Automotive Group we pride ourselves on giving back to our community, that is why we jumped at the first chance when we got to sponsor the Lakewood Ranch Exotic Car Show. The main purpose of this event is to raise money for the kids at Flight to the North Pole! Here is a snippet of their mission: "The Foundation for this program started in 1985 by a number of Eastern Airline flight attendants and has grown ever since. For many years, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport Fire Department make this a memorable event for the terminally ill children. This year we will have over 120 terminally ill children who are able to attend this event and sometimes this may be their last memorable holiday to celebrate with their siblings and parents. The “Flight to the North Pole” tradition continues in that each child that attends are presented with gifts, lunch, and entertained by volunteers dressed as elves and clowns. The event is held the second week in December, with the Sheriff and his staff volunteering their time, along with Airport Fire Department personnel. The Sheriff’s Office helicopter transports “Santa”, who lands at the airport Fire Station and greets the children and their families, with hugs. Once Santa arrives, you can hardly contain the excitement of the children and families. Inside the Fire Station, is a Santa’s workshop, where the children can sit with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and tell them of their list and receive their gift bags. Needless to say, this is a memorable event not only for the children, but for their families as well. Volunteers from the business community and citizens from Manatee and Sarasota counties provide dollars for gifts, in-kind donations of food, time, gifts, door prizes, entertainment and other services. The end result is a Christmas Wonderland of snow, elves, decorations, lights, and Santa and Mrs. Claus greeting each and every child, taking photographs, and providing gifts. Lunch is served, choirs sing, and volunteers surround the children and their families to help them maximize their time away from illness/disease and enjoy the holiday without any stresses." We had a blast at this car show and are so happy to support such an amazing cause with amazing kids. We can't wait to be apart of it for years to come and hope to see you there! Tune in here to keep updated with our activities and how you can help too! Instagram & Facebook

On Wednesday February 6th, Audi Wesley Chapel partnered with the Pasco Sheriff's Office to help celebrate the swearing in of volunteers, civilians and law enforcement deputies. Along with the swearing in of the new members there were also awards such as Meritorious Service for Courage and Life Saving awards presented to a few of Pasco Sheriff's finest. At the ceremony we also recognized some of the Vietnam War Veterans that served our country proudly. We look forward to this new partnership with the Pasco Sheriff's Office and can't wait to help our community grow together! Instagram & Facebook [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="302502,302497,302498,302499,302500,302501"]

The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign enables The Salvation Army to provide food, toys and clothing to over 6 million people during the Christmas season and helps more than 34 million Americans recovering from all kinds of personal disasters nationwide. On Friday, December 22nd, 11 Dimmitt associates plus some family members rang the bell for the Salvation Army. This was an all day event from 10am - 8pm at the Northwood Plaza Publix in Clearwater. In addition, Mr. Dimmitt generously sponsored the bell for the full week! We can't wait for all of the opportunities to help our community in 2018. Tune in here to keep updated with our activities and how you can help too! Instagram & Facebook