On a crisp and sunny December morning, 14 grateful Rotarians gathered with our President, Mark Irvin, to thank Rob Draper, CEO of O’Rielly Chevrolet, Broadway and Wilmot, for the blessing of his rare and unexpected gift of the opportunity to buy a 2022, red-mist, C-8 Corvette Stingray, at dealer’s cost for the Rotary Club of Tucson’s Classics Car Show raffle prize! With this sought after and wait-listed Corvette, this year’s Raffle was a record-breaker! As Bob came into the conference room for the meeting, he was serenaded by the august group of Rotarians with “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. The vibrations of this salute and the gratitude flowing from the Rotarians in the room, must have touched his heart for shortly thereafter he made a significant donation to Rotary’s pledge to JTED. Bob understands the meaningful gifts Rotary gives to both our beloved community and the disadvantaged around the world. He also knows how important the new JTED high tech vocational campus at Park and the Freeway is to giving high school students the opportunity to get up to date vocational training and be job ready at graduation. A life-changing gift to the students in Tucson. With Bob as Santa Claus, Tucson, JTED’s students, the Rotary Club of Tucson, and O’Rielly Chevrolet ended up with a win, win, win, win!!!! We got the best deal in town and you can too, at the corner of Broadway and Wilmot. The pull-up poster sign Rotary gave to O’Rielly Chevrolet is in the showroom next to the Christmas tree and will let all potential new car buyers know of Bob’s huge heart! Rotary thanks you! Hugh ThompsonBelow are quotes of gratitude from some of the members who attended the presentation:
Mark Irvin: “To say we were shocked by the generosity of Rob Draper and the amazing folks at O’Rielly would be an understatement. It was the last thing we ever expected to happen. We went by to just say thank you and let Rob know how impactful his help had been. Just when you think things could not possibly get any better we get such a heartfelt donation that will benefit JTED and the kids there for generations. This is as impactful a gift as I have ever seen."
Rick Rose: "It was truly a touching and unexpected moment when Rob left the room briefly, and returned with a post-it note indicating that O'Rielly would be making a donation to JTED that covered the cost of the Corvette."
Margaret Higgins: “I have never seen such an outpouring of gratefulness and generosity: a group of Rotarians met recently to give deep and heartfelt gratitude to Rob Draper for his help in obtaining a Corvette; and we were met with unbounded generosity when O’Reilly Chevrolet gave us a large check which helped us exceed our goals for the year. Very many wonderful thanks to Rob and to O’Rielly Chevrolet.”
Marianne Freitas: "Here we thought we were surprising Rob with recognition for Rob and O'Rielly helping us acquire our raffle car for the 2021 show. He ended up surprising us! What a generous donation!"
Bobby Larson: “Just wanted to thank Rob for his efforts which led to Chevrolet presenting our Rotary with a beautiful C8 for our Centennial year. And then add to that the most generous gift of the cost of the car (over $71,000!) to be donated in the Rotary Club of Tucson’s Honor to our 2021 beneficiary JTED! These acts of generosity were amazing!!!”
Drew Vactor: “Rob was blown away by the number of Rotarians who took time from their busy days to go over to O’Rielly Chevrolet just to say “Thank You.” It really made him feel like the work he did to get us that rare vehicle was appreciated and well worth his time. That apparently inspired him and we were, in return, floored when he told us, and wrote down, that he would match the value of the Corvette in a gift from their company to Pima JTED with credit to Rotary Club of Tucson. It was totally unexpected and a very special moment for all.”
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Kurtis Dawson: “I'm so grateful for a community leader like Rob Draper who chose to partner with our Rotary Club for the car show. His confidence in Rotarians will enable us to invest more in our community through JTED this year. Thank you to Rob and O'Rielly Chevrolet for turning what seemed impossible into a reality.
Paul Hallums: “It was an honor to join a dozen club members to extend our heart-felt appreciation to Rob Draper and the O’Rielly Motor Company for helping us buy a new Corvette to raffle at this year’s car show. To our amazement, Rob announced the car was being donated in full. It is through partnerships like this that we continue to help so many in our community, including JTED and further the Rotarian mission.”
Jeff Hotchkiss: “Super to thank a great partner and community supporter like Rob Draper, and to be part of such a successful event.”
Roger Harwell: “We had a great Rotarian turnout with only expectation of showing our sincere thanks to Rob for securing us a new corvette from GM. Hugh Thompson suggested we sing “He’s the Jolly Good Fellow” to enhance Rob’s surprise when he entered the conference room. The resounding harmony surprised us all and surely inspired Rob to offer the wonderful gift.”
