Dealer principals John and Carina DeHoff give us insight on how The Gift of Adventure Charity Event came to life:
Q: John, How did you come across this awesome classic 1992 Flair Motorhome?
A: It’s a really interesting story, I was in the sales office one day, and a gentleman by the name of Michael McHale walked in the door and said, “would you like a free motorhome?” I thought to myself “that’s kind of an unusual request”, but I said, “okay, what do you mean?” It turns out that he was a cancer survivor and had been going down to Mexico for treatments for years. He was moving to Mexico permanently and planned to leave the following day. He said, “I forgot this motorhome was in storage and I need to get rid of it today”. I reluctantly agreed to go and take a look at this motorhome with him.
It turned out that the Fleetwood Flair was a true barn find; a time capsule underneath all the dust, but still, I could tell it was a really clean, older piece. The tires were cracked, and the motorhome looked like it hadn’t been moved in years. So, Michael asked if we’d be interested in selling it and maybe buying the company some lunch. I told him, “This thing is worth a lot more than lunch. I’d like to get this motorhome back to our dealership, get it cleaned up, running, and then auction it off for charity. You donated it, and it’s just a way of paying it forward.” I asked Michael what his favorite charity was, and he said “the Idaho Food Bank”. I told him we would put it in an auction and donate all proceeds to charities. So, we got it running smoothly with the donated time from Mike’s Boise Clutch, inspected the systems, replaced the tires, and invited Advanced Mobile Detail to knock out a nice complimentary cut n’ buff on the exterior (a big shout out to both of these companies for donating their services!).
Q: That is an awesome story! So, why now? Why do the charity event now?
A: Well, since receiving the motorhome it’s been a plan of mine to offer it for a charity auction and to do something for the community. With the holiday seasons approaching, now is the best time to promote the gift of giving. Plus, we had an opportunity to partner up with Musick Auction, and saw this as a great opportunity to have this charity event, this dream, come to fruition.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about the partnership with Musick Auction.
A: Well, the relationship with Josh Sharp, owner of Musick Auction, has been long-standing. I’ve known him for a while, really a top shelf businessman and gentleman. We’ve worked with him in a professional capacity in the past and really enjoy working together. We felt his company would do this charity event justice.
Q: We noticed that there are three local charities that will benefit from this, one of them being the Idaho Food Bank. What’s the plan with the other two?
A: Mr. McHale, the motorhome’s donor, requested that the Idaho Food Bank be included, and we are respecting his wish. For the second and third charities, we really wanted the community to be involved. We decided to place a poll on all of our social media channels and let our followers and the Treasure Valley community vote on what charity they would like to see this money go to. The third charity will be selected by the person who wins the auction of the 1992 Flair Motorhome. That portion will go to their favorite local charity..
Q: If someone in the local Treasure Valley community would like to vote for their charity of choice, where can they go to do so?
A: They would just need to like and follow us on social media. We’re going to host a poll, and they can cast their votes there. We’ll run the popular voting up until the end of the auction and then tally up the results. The charity of the popular vote will be announced at that time.
Q: Does the community have to buy anything to vote?
A: Absolutely not. This is a 100% pay-it-forward charity event. We were given an opportunity to be a part of something wonderful, and we want our community to be a part of it and get the word out there.
Want to vote for your favorite charity? Click here to vote and don’t forget to follow Leisureland RV Center on social media to find out if your charity wins!
