The 2025 Subaru Love Promise Community Commitment Award
We are honored to be nationally recognized by Subaru of America, Inc. for our dedication to our community, and the Subaru Love Promise.
The 2025 Subaru Love Promise Community Commitment Award recognizes elite Subaru retailer who provide an exceptional customer experience at every interaction with Subaru. These retailers have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to supporting passions and causes in their local communities in important areas such as environment, community, health, education, and pets.
Here at Subaru, we love our community as much as we love our vehicles and are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of all of our customers and neighbors.
What is the Subaru Love Promise?
Subaru and our retailers believe in making the world a better place and the Subaru Love Promise is our vision of respecting all people. This is our commitment to show love and respect to our customers and to work to make a positive impact in the world.
How is Patriot Subaru of Saco dedicated locally to the Love Promise?
At Patriot Subaru, our Love Promise to New England and to the Maine area can be seen in our eco-friendly practice and in our partnerships with local nonprofits and charities. We're grateful for the opportunity, not only to be a part of the Saco community, but to serve it as well.
Animal Refuge League Greater Portland, Animal Welfare Society, Kennebunk, Lucky Pup Rescue, WGME Pet Food Drive Sponsor
Saco Parks and Rec - Shade Trees Plantings, Biddeford Community Gardens, Zero Landfill Facility - Recyle, Reuse, Return
Biddeford Primary Schools, JFK Memorial School, The Center, Kennebunk
STRIVE, York County Community Action Corporation, Multiple Food Pantrys and Food Banks, Best Buddies Maine, Maine Public Broadcasting
Northern Light Mercy Hospital / Mercy Cancer Care, Milestone Recovery Center, Alzheimer's Association 'Longest Day, Maine Adaptive Sports
Love Promise Stories from Patriot Subaru of Saco
Subaru and Patriot Subaru of Saco believe in making a positive impact on the communities in which we live and work. We uphold that belief through our Love Promise Community Commitment. Every month, we select inspiring stories from customers and partners from around our area who strive to support our collective commitment and feature them here
THANK YOU FROM LLS, PATRIOT SUBARU! - Tasha M
For the past 10 years, Subaru of America and its retailers have partnered with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) through the Subaru Loves to Care initiative. The partnership has involved delivering blankets and messages of hope to cancer patients across the country. On June 18th, Patriot Subaru personally delivered these items to patients. These blankets and messages of hope provide warmth and comfort to patients in treatment. The love and support shared through this cherished partnership means a lot to everyone involved! Thank you for your commitment to supporting your community as well as the LLS mission to create a world without blood cancer and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
Patriot Subaru Teams Up to Support Local Community - Nate R
Imagine going without a coat, shoes, or even socks. For millions of children and adults experiencing homelessness and other urgent need situations across the country, even here in Saco, this is a harsh reality. Helping others strengthens communities, which is why Patriot Subaru is partnering with Operation Warm®, a national nonprofit focused on connecting children with the resources they need to thrive. Through this partnership and other Subaru Loves to Help® efforts, Subaru and retailers like Patriot Subaru have helped nearly 900,000 children and adults in urgent need. On 02/14/2025, Patriot Subaru donated 120 coats to FEDCAP - Biddeford. These essential items not only help keep children protected, warm, and dry, it can have a significant impact on a child's mental and emotional well-being.
Teaming Up With Margaret Murphy Centers For Children - Patriot S
Patriot Subaru began a new and special relationship with The Margaret Murphy Centers For Children right in our Saco backyard. Serving the youngest of students from age 3 up to the age of 22, the Center focuses on intensive educational and therapeutic clinical services to children with developmental delays, autistic developmental disabilities, and emotional and behavioral issues, namely anxiety and ADHD. In January 2025, we first spoke with Director Nicole Neal, and Special Ed Teacher Michelle "Shelly" Wilbar, and in the process started an intern/volunteer program here at Patriot for a student. We were introduced to “J”, a high school student, who began coming to the dealership on Tuesday mornings assisted by case worker Mat Bridges from the Murphy school. At the store we organized a series of projects and tasks for J to work on. At first it was a little tentative, as J acclimated to the busy atmosphere. One of the goals was to improve social interactions, and gradually he became more comfortable around the staff, as well as customers. The original plan was that the internship would run from February thru the end of the school year in June. As we neared the finish, Michelle, aka “Shelly” reached out to first note that the school as well as J’s parents were “beyond grateful for the opportunity.” From there we learned that “J” has been making great personal strides, so much so that he is going to be returning to the public school system this fall. His parents had one wish, and that is that “J’” be allowed to continue with Patriot Subaru this summer because it has been such a wonderful experience. Said Shelly, “Both the parents and the team at Margaret Murphy are very appreciative of efforts you have all made to engage, encourage, and work J into your daily activities.” We were very glad to hear that good news and of course welcomed J to keep working with us. The experience has been equally rewarding to us, with many associates joining in and assisting the weekly program. Keep up the good work J!
Operation Warm Coat Distribution - Patriot S
Operation Warm, the 2nd annual event that we held down at the Fedcap Families offices in Biddeford, once again was a successful program, judged by the number of smiles produced that afternoon. Patriot Subaru arrived with 120 warm winter coats that we had purchased through the national “Operation Warm” program, in conjunction with Subaru of America’s “Love To Help” initiative. We coordinated with FedCap’s Cory Trucheon and Gerald Davis, setting up a streamlined distribution process to outfit the client families that came in. One of the challenges was the wide range of languages spoken, but the FedCap team did an outstanding job of translating and communicating with the clients, and our Patriot team became quite adept at helping find the right sizes and fitting each individual. Loved the jackets – bright, colorful, and warm! We topped it off with some pizza for our guests. Gerald Davis pointed out that “Being able to supply these free jackets to people Is very important because there are a lot of people who just don’t have the access or the funds.” Cory Trucheon added that "It was great to be able to partner up with a company like Patriot in order to have an impact on the community at such a personal level.” David Shoemaker, Patriot General Manager said, “We’re doing something that helps, no more simply put.” Indeed. Just look at the smiles.
Homelessness Hits Home - Patriot S
Homelessness is a growing and serious issue in every city, and Portland, Maine is no exception. We spoke with Greater Portland Family Promise, which is an independent chapter of the national Family Promise organization. Their mission is to “help families experiencing homelessness and low-income families achieve sustainable independence.” To learn more, a number of our associates went over to one of their transitional houses in Portland to meet with Executive Director Michelle Lamm and other board members and case managers. Michelle explained how many of these new refugee families have a very difficult time finding a place to live, and the case workers are ready to help with budgeting, applications, and references. Support is provided for moving into safe homes, including the provision of furniture and household goods. The Patriot team then took another step to help by contacting another group, Furniture Friends, a Portland based group that takes in donations of furniture from both businesses and the public, which are then distributed to individuals and families in need. While having an apartment or house is a major step, many of the families working with Family Promise do not have the means to purchase beds, couches, lamps – the items that not only provide comfort, but a sense of dignity. Through our “12 Weeks of Giving” program, Patriot raised a combined total of $2825, that was donated to the organizations, in addition to a strong social media campaign to help raise additional awareness for the programs.
Helping Seniors With Winter Driving Tips - Patriot S
Kevin Gardner, Patriot Subaru Service Manager, was invited to speak at the Spaulding Center For Active Living, to share tips on "Winter Car Care and Driving Tips". Great time! Located in Kennebunk, the Spaulding Center is a resource for adults 50+ with all sorts of engaging programs, social activities, and volunteer programs. What was going to be about 30 minutes turned into a lively hour because the audience was very interested and asked many great questions. Kevin’s presentation was very organized and was user-friendly information that the audience could easily understand, and you could see it in the way they related to him with their questions. All the “students” received a Patriot Subaru tote bag which added to the fun! Kevin then asked if anyone would like to go outside and open up the hood of a car for some additional “hands on” tips on checking fluids, checking the battery terminals, wiper fluid and blades, and so on. Sure enough, the class bundled up on a chilly morning and went on out. Great job Kevin, they want you back for Summer Tips! It was a great way to engage with the community.
With G.R.A.C.E. We Helped HEAP - Patriot S
Patriot Subaru reached out to Scarborough based Project G.R.A.C.E. (Granting Resources and Assistance through Community Effort) to be a part of our monthly "12 Weeks of Giving" program. The event is designed to spread the word of a local, grassroots charitable organization that does great work but often doesn’t get much attention. We had the pleasure of meeting Executive Director Steffi Cox and President Alberta Follansbee who came to Patriot to share the Project G.R.A.C.E. story. From food drives to help those with food insecurity, raising funds to help purchase home heating oil for those in need, or collecting backpacks and essential school supplies for young students, G.R.A.C.E. provides assistance. In this particular situation we focused on a donation to HEAP – Home Energy Assistance Program, that distributes money through the York County Community Action Corporation. We were pleased to report that our 12 Weeks event yielded $1375, but we weren’t done. A few weeks later Patriot hosted the monthly meeting of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce + Industry’s "Business After Hours" event. Rather than the typical raffle that would reward a Chamber member, our invitation to the event included notice that we would donate to the HEAP program for every member and guest who attended. “Your presence will help others!” It ended up being an additional donation of $800 for home heating oil, much better than raffling off an oil change! Neighbors helping neighbors!
We're All Tots At Heart - Patriot S
Patriot Subaru’s annual Marine Corps “Toys For Tots” collection of holiday gifts just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year! What you see here in the photo is after two full loads had already been picked up! As you can see, we like wheels! We work with the Toys For Tots/Northern York County division, and appreciate that the toys, books, and bikes not only go to those who need them most, but are distributed in the community throughout the year, more than just the holiday season, to see that kids are getting the emotional support and fun experiences throughout the year. Patriot Subaru makes a healthy donation of the toys, but so do our associates who bring in their own gifts, as well as customers. We’ll have a team “bike assembly” session, and then, naturally “test them out”. We all have a little tot in us.
Doing Good Things Inspires Others - Patriot S
Our 9th annual “Kevin On The Roof” fundraising event to support STRIVE, the South Portland based organization that works with teens and young adults with developmental disabilities, reached new heights once again, this year earning over $88,000. How? Kevin Fitzpatrick, Program Director at STRIVE takes his tent and sleeping bag and goes up on our roof and refuses to come down until the fundraising goal is met. He'll lower his bucket for a donation, and the rest comes in online. The goal this year was $80k, so he made his goal and then some. Time on roof – one week. To date the event has earned $490,000! The event always brings some touching stories, and it’s important to share what occurred this year. It starts simply enough, with one of our Vehicle Buying Center associates, Imahdi Zagon setting up an appointment with a woman who wanted us to evaluate her vehicle for sale. At the scheduled time Imahdi noticed the woman pulling into the Patriot parking lot, however she never came in the store. A few minutes later, Imahdi went out to find her. Her vehicle was parked, but the woman was gone. Well, here is what happened. She had put both the keys to her car along with the title in Kevin’s bucket, turned around, and departed in a friend’s car. When Kevin reeled his bucket up, he found the largest personal donation to date. With no fanfare, she had donated her car to support Kevin and all the good work of STRIVE! We take no credit for her generosity, but it made us feel great that having events like this creates opportunities for people to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others. Doing good things helps others do good things! It was a beautiful moment that took a while to absorb what had just happened and brought many to tears. That was love.
Customer's Tip - Adaptive Sports - Patriot S
Last winter we were informed by a customer of a program that focused on outdoor sports and recreational activities to veterans with disabilities, as well as their families. Patriot got in touch with one of their lead volunteers, Jeff Gray, who tied us into Amy Bannon, Managing Director for Maine Adaptive Sports/ Veterans No Boundaries. We learned that the organization that started in 2007 offers a range of options that encourages and supports veterans to regain physical and mental health, confidence, socialization, and ways to reconnect with friends and family. There are two seasonal programs – one in August at Camp Wavus in Jefferson, Maine, and a winter one in January at the Sunday River ski resort. August focuses on kayaking/canoeing, fishing, shooting, archery, cycling, rope and swing courses. Winter includes both alpine and nordic skiing and snowboarding, court sports, and craft programs, and socials. All activities, equipment, instruction, lodging, accommodations, and meals are provided at no charge for the respective four-day retreats. The only expense to a participant is to travel to Maine, and help is provided from volunteers getting to the sites from the airports or train stations. Through our “12 Weeks of Giving” July event, Patriot raised $1750 for Maine Adaptive. Noted Jeff Gray, “Thanks so much for supporting our causes and please extend our appreciation to to your ownership for their willingness to support the disabled communities of Maine!!” Amy Bannon added more, “This is amazing! We are so grateful for your support of our program. These funds will help us continue to bridge adaptive access to sports and recreational opportunities across Maine. Our staff gathered in front of my very loved Subaru to share our thanks - see photo attached. Thank you SO much!” Thank you Amy and Jeff, and thanks to our customers for their tips about such great programs!
