Sometimes a drive is just a drive.
But not always.
When 850 people from metro Detroit and different parts of Michigan gathered recently at Ford Field for an event to benefit Pope Francis Center in downtown Detroit, a bidding war ensued as men and women waved their auction paddles. The auctioneer went higher and higher for dollars to help address needs of the unhoused in Detroit.
A winning bid of $45,000 was called for a drive on the M1 track in Pontiac with Ford CEO Jim Farley, who sat at a dinner table up front with reporters from Motor Trend, Bloomberg, Reuters and BusinessInsider.com on April 20.
Farley, a successful race car driver, teased bidders by offering up the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the powerful new Mustang Dark Horse, along and a few other surprises.
The winner: Lear Corp., a manufacturer of automotive seating and electrical systems.
In 2022, Vinnie Johnson’s Piston Group bid highest for the Farley drive. And in 2021, it was Lear again.
This year, the annual gala raised more than $1.08 million through gifts small and large.
The money goes toward the Bridge Housing Campus to provide 40 studio apartments to people for 90 to 120 days. The project will include social and job-preparation services as well as comprehensive medical care that covers physical, psychological and addiction needs.
“We all need to do our part. I’m really thankful for all of your support. I think what Father Tim is doing is really an innovative project for the whole country, to actually transition people out of homelessness,” Farley said, interrupted by applause. “Because a lot of people put (on) Band-Aids. … How cool is it that the city of Detroit is going to be on the forefront of solving that problem? I think it’s a proud moment for all of us.”
He ended by asking people in the crowd to take time to volunteer at the Pope Francis Center. “It’ll be the biggest gift you give yourself,” he said.
Farley, as a child, often went with his grandfather to volunteer at the warming center of Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church in downtown Detroit. Now he takes his children to the Pope Francis Center.
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The Rev. Tim McCabe, executive director of the Pope Francis Center, told the crowd that Farley, a longtime volunteer, regularly calls to ask, “What are we doing to keep our guests safe? How are our guests doing? And what can I do to help? … It is our problem to solve. He is right there with us.”
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The Pope Francis Center said it provides nearly 200 people meals, showers and laundry service on an average day.
McCabe told the Detroit Free Press after the big event: “It was humbling and awesome at the same time to see so many people from our community turn out to show their support for the work we do caring for our guests. We are blessed to live in a city with unbelievable generosity. I can’t wait for next year when our Bridge Housing Campus will be close to opening and we can show how we’re going to end chronic homelessness in our city once and for all.”
(Editor’s note: The family of the Detroit Free Press staff writer attended and donated financially to the Pope Francis Center.)
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid