Ford Credit Brings Holiday Cheer to More Than 650 Foster Children In 'Operation Good Cheer'

DEARBORN, MI – The lobby of Ford Motor Credit Company headquarters literally is brimming with a mountain of holiday gifts today as Ford Credit employees ring in the 2004 holiday season by providing more than 2,000 festively wrapped presents for foster children as part of Operation Good Cheer.

Ford Credit employees will join Bill Dirksen, Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Ford Credit, to present this year’s gifts to Sharon Vichcales, Administrative Director of Child and Family Services of Michigan, Inc., the program’s sponsoring organization.

“The lists we get from these children are very humbling,” Dirksen said. “They ask for things like coats and shoes. I’m proud to work with such a big- hearted group, which for the last two decades has been sending gifts across Michigan to impact foster children’s lives for the better.”

As part of Operation Good Cheer, Michigan children in foster care made up personal wish lists. Ford Credit employees “adopted” 650 of these children, buying and wrapping at least three gifts from each child’s wish list. Although donors never see the children they help, they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to fulfill children’s wishes.

Ford Credit Operation Good Cheer co-chair Wendy Leland said the reward is in the giving. “We don’t see their faces on Christmas morning, but we take comfort in bringing the joy of the holidays to children who otherwise might not have reason to celebrate,” she said.

Several companies have provided vehicles, fuel and drivers to Child and Family Services of Michigan to help them gather the gifts from Ford Credit and other donors throughout the state and deliver them to Oakland County International Airport. There, with the assistance of more than 100 volunteers, the gifts will be sorted and distributed throughout Michigan in time for Christmas.

Since 1984, Ford Credit employees have taken part in Operation Good Cheer and have given nearly 32,000 gifts to more than 10,000 foster children in Michigan. The program originated in 1971 when Ford Motor Company employees, in partnership with Child and Family Services of Michigan, began pooling their money to donate funds to a worthy cause.

Ford Credit participates in several other charitable events throughout the year, including the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure event, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Global Walk, as well as the United Way and the American Red Cross.

Ford Motor Credit Company is one of the world’s largest automotive finance companies and has supported the sale of Ford products since 1959. With nearly 19,000 employees, Ford Credit operates in 36 countries and manages $171 billion in receivables. Ford Credit is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. It provides automotive financing for Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda and Volvo dealers and customers. More information can be found at www.fordcredit.com and at Ford Credit’s investor center http://www.fordcredit.com/investorcenter.