Experienced by Adrian McQueen
For the past 5 years Silas Grant — a Washingtonian of Ward 5 — commingles friends and family to supply an ample amount of turkeys and care packages for more than 100 families in N.E. Washington, D.C. I have taken great pleasure assisting with this movement and watching its growth from inception. As a component of a larger scaled nonprofit organization dubbed Project Giveback, the ideology was birthed in 1995 when a few friends came together and made Thanksgiving a little brighter by delivering grocery baskets to six impoverished families.
Project Giveback is now 21 years into existence and consists of a profuse number of volunteers supporting the citywide initiative which distributes well over 2,000 healthy food baskets and other necessities to local families in need. The initial distribution day takes place the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. However, our Automotive Rhythms team is typically in LA hosting events for the LA Auto Show so on Sunday and Monday I specifically ascertain that all families that missed out on turkey Saturday receive their donations.
Calling on our business friends, Automotive Rhythms and Fit Fathers were provided a 2016 Ram ProMaster City to deliver the goods to all at-need families. The ProMaster City is the smaller variant of the ProMaster line but offers a bevy of large capabilities. Upon first sight it resembles a petite service vehicle but without all of the typical work signage. When I pulled up to the scene the vehicle ignited conversation from guessing its name to the amazement of how much it could haul. With a 178-horsepower 2.4-liter “Tigershark” 4-cylinder gasoline engine (paired with a 9-speed automatic transmission) the Ram ProMaster City isn’t the fastest vehicle in the world, but in this case speed is not its true purpose. Two of the key attributes of this Ram are reserved for fuel economy which is rated at 29 mpg highway / 21 mpg city and a spacious 131.7 cubic feet (cargo van only) to go along.
Instead of the typical cargo van, which usually only features front seats, we were offered the passenger Wagon model with a folding/tumbling rear bench allowing it to seat up to five people. It was fun piling up in the Ram comfortably while the goods were good in their dedicated placements. Driving the vehicle around was a pleasure and came replete with enough compartments to house our checklists, laptop, bags and phones. The micro navigation helped guide the team through various neighborhoods we were not familiar with and the 60/40 split rear doors (can swing open to a maximum of 180°) proved very efficient when unloading the turkeys. In addition, The ProMaster City features dual sliding side doors with large window panes. Also, the ParkView Rear Back Up Camera was very much needed through some of the tight driveways and city alley streets.
MSRP starts at $23,445 for the FWD Tradesman. My mantra is simple, “As blessed as we are, it is our duty to give back to those that are less fortunate.” Stay tuned as we continue reaching out to families and communities in need of assistance.
