BackgroundKars4Kids is a registered 501(c)3 operating in the United States and Canada, and takes donations of vehicles, accepting over 40,000 cars annually.
In 2010 Kars4Kids reported revenue of $29.1 million and expenses of $31.1 million.
Donations to Kars4Kids benefit the Oorah (Joy for Our Youth, or J.O.Y.), a national organization with a stated goal of addressing the “educational, material, emotional and spiritual needs of Jewish children and their families,” and whose mission, according to Charity Watch, appears to be “to persuade secular Jewish families to take on a more Orthodox Jewish lifestyle.”
Don Imus apologyRadio talk show host Don Imus was caught mocking the Kars4Kids commercial on live radio due to a connected microphone on November 4, 2010. His comments were heard live on WABC radio in New York City on the Imus in the Morning show. On the following day, Don Imus issued an apology directly on the air.
WorkThe organization hosts regular coat and clothing giveaways for the needy nationwide, including in Harlem, Washington, DC, and in Newark, New Jersey where they held a give-away together with Newark Mayor Cory Booker.
Prior to the start of the 2012 school year, the Chairman of the NYC Housing Authority in partnership with Kars4Kids distributed school supplies and backpacks to more than 3,000 children in Queens Housing projects. Around that same time period with New York City Councilman James Vacca they distributed free backpacks in the Bronx as part of a “back-to-school initiative aimed at helping struggling families with the rising expenses of school supplies.” In Brooklyn, Congressman Ed Towns and Kars 4 Kids distributed winter jackets to underprivileged children, including at the legendary Marcy Avenue Houses.
The organization saw a boom in donated cars following Hurricane Sandy, with owners donating cars totaled by hurricane damage.
After being contacted by the NYPD per the Moore family, the charity auctioned off a 2003 Ford Explorer in which two children drowned after being swept from their mother’s arms during Hurricane Sandy. The auction proceeds went to raise money for coats for the needy.
Kars 4 Kids worked with United States Representative Michael Grimm to distribute over 1,000 children’s coats and other assorted clothing items to Staten Island residents affected by the hurricane.
JingleKars4Kids is well known for its radio jingle, described by Peter Hartlaub as an “assault on [the] senses”.The jingles were heard on many all news radio stations such as KYW Philadelphia, WINS New York, WNEW-FM Washington, DC, WMJX in Boston, and CFTR in Toronto. The exact history of the tune is a little fuzzy, but Wendy Kirwan, director of public relations at Kars 4 Kids, said it was written by a volunteer sometime in the late 1990s, the music adapted from a Country Yossi song, “Little Kinderlach,” whose lyrics exalt the coming of a messiah: “It’s gonna be the little kinderlach/ who’ll make Moshiach come.”
In 2014, the jingle was made into a TV commercial.
Disclosure concernsThe organization has been criticized for concealing its Jewish educational work. In 2009, Joy for Our Youth paid $65,000 in fines in Pennsylvania; while Kars4Kids paid $65,000 in fines in Oregon in settlements reached with the respective state attorneys general as a result of their contention that the organization had to more clearly state that the beneficiaries were of a “certain religious affiliation.” In Oregon, the attorney general added that Kars4Kids failed to disclose that its offer of a “free vacation” for vehicle donors was designed to recruit people to attend timeshare presentations.
