Chairwoman Annette Sykora discusses NADA’s Emergency Relief Fund to help dealers in need

Hurricane Ida devastated many on the Gulf Coast before making its way into the Northeast. As residents in both areas pick up the pieces and government officials tour the damage, we continue our coverage on the hurricane’s impact on dealers. We’re pleased to welcome NADA’s first female chairwoman and current NADA Foundation Chairwoman Annette Sykora, to discuss NADA’s Emergency Relief Fund and how you can get involved today.

Anytime we have a disaster, Sykora says, it takes some time before we get a full count of the number of people affected. She says they have received over 80 applications to date.

When these natural disasters occur, dealerships are huge community supporters and dealership employees are normally the first ones out there, helping their fellow man while needing help themselves. This fund does that, says Sykora. She says they can apply for help. It’s based on a sliding scale, up to $1,500 dollars.

This fund was established in 1992, and throughout the years, they’ve helped more than 12,000 dealership employees and distributed more than $9 million dollars in assistance. Sykora says, it feels good to help out our own, especially when we know they’re out there helping others. She also says donations are needed to continue to help others.

Sykora says, what highlights most for her is how resilient and adapting dealers are. Whatever challenge they get hit with, they find a way to still serve their customers. She says it makes her extremely thankful she chose this as a career years ago.

You can help dealership employees impacted by Hurricane Ida or request relief assistance by visiting the NADA Foundation Emergency Relief Fund.

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