Nov 22, 2014 2 min read

Budd Baer Inc. once again will help Subaru of America Inc. “Share the Love.”

For every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased, Subaru will donate $250 to the charity of the customer’s choice. The campaign, which began Nov. 20, will continue through Jan. 2.

Subaru has chosen four national charities: ASPCA, Make-A-Wish, Meals On Wheels Association of America and National Park Foundation.

In addition to the four national organizations, Subaru retailers also have the opportunity to add a local charity for their customers to support, and Mark Baer is taking advantage of it.

The owner of Budd Baer hopes to keep all of the money raised through his dealership local by supporting Citizens Library. Customers who purchase a Subaru at Budd Baer during the campaign will be asked to complete a form, designating Citizens Library as its charity of choice.

“We should raise $25,000 if we sell what we should sell,” Mark Baer said. “It’s not too often you get this chance to raise this kind of money for charity.”

Citizens Library helps facilitate the regional one-card system known as WAGGIN in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. The money, Baer said, will be used to purchase children’s books. According to Baer, the number of children who will benefit from the program exceeds 200,000. The figure is based on the number of books purchased, and the number of times those books are placed into different hands.

Last year was the first time dealers could select local charities. Budd Baer had planned to support the canine fund for the City of Washington Police Department, but it was not able to obtain all of the documentation in time.

In its first six years, Share the Love has raised $35 million. This year, 608 hometown charities have been selected by Subaru retailers. With Subaru retailers also making their own donations to local charities, total donations are expected to be well in excess of the $15 million committed by Subaru of America.

“It’s a pretty neat program,” Baer said. “Other manufacturers are trying to emulate it.”