Humanitarian: McMahon's team helps community in many ways

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Every year McMahon's Best-One Tire & Auto Care invites its commercial customers and vendors to a golf outing for a day of fun, camaraderie and networking. But the dealership has an ulterior motive: Generating donations for a local charity.

The plan seems to be working. Every year for the past seven years the guests have stepped up and donated an increasing amount of funds for a featured charity.

This year the golf outing pulled in a record $24,750, which was donated to two local non-profits: Wreaths Across America and the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum.

It is this focus on charitable giving and volunteering in her local community that earned McMahon's Best-One President Kim McMahon the Tire Business Tire Dealer Humanitarian Award this year.

The family-owned dealership has been hosting the annual golf outing for 10 years as a way to express appreciation to its customers, but decided seven years ago to add a charitable element.

"It came from an idea of 'Why can't we do something bigger?' Before it was, 'Let's get everyone golfing.' Every year we get bigger," said Patrick "Bubba" McMahon III, Kim's husband and a co-owner in the dealership.

McMahon's covers the cost of the outing and offers gift bags, refreshments and dinner, but then asks for donations to the featured charity via game holes, a silent auction of donated items and a 50-50 raffle (which Kim McMahon said the winner usually donates back to the charity).

"It's easy because it's a day where they didn't have to pay to play. They're coming out to hang out with us and golf and donate to this charity," she said.

This past July, the outing hosted about 70 commercial customers, vendors, store owners and salespeople and due to the large donation amount, the dealership felt it could spread the money between two charities.

Wreaths Across America also was the recipient of $21,000 from the 2021 golf outing and $20,000 from the 2020 event.

In 2019 the golf outing generated $16,341 for Honor Flight Northeast Indiana, which flies veterans from Fort Wayne to Washington D.C. to visit Arlington National Cemetery for a day, free of charge. McMahon noted that several employees' fathers are veterans and have participated in an Honor Flight.

Next year, McMahon's Best One's goal is to generate $30,000 in donations at the event.

During the golf outing, the featured charity representative talks about the organization's work before guests tee off.

Bubba McMahon said the charity rep will sit with him at one of the tees so every golfer who plays through has a chance to meet and talk with the representative.

The guests are asked to write their donation checks directly to the charity so they know McMahon's is fully covering the cost of the outing, he said.

McMahon's not only enlists the help of its customers and vendors for its charitable endeavors, but it also encourages its employees to help — and they often answer the call with enthusiasm.

Wreaths Across America not only received funds from the last few golf outings, but also the volunteer efforts of the dealership's employees.

Every December the Fort Wayne chapter honors the graves of about 7,000 service members by laying a remembrance wreath at each grave site at a local cemetery.

Last year about 30 of McMahon's employees helped with laying 1,667 wreaths at Lindenwood Cemetery and the dealership plans to participate again this year.

Employees also participate in company-sponsored raffles for charity or purchase custom shirts, such as St. Patrick's Day T-shirts or pink breast cancer awareness shirts, with the money going to charity.

As opposed to other workplaces that just collect money for fundraisers, McMahon's makes a point of involving its employees in a charity event, Clayton Millay, president of commercial operations, said.

"And what's neat about it is that by involving individuals in it, what you'll see is you start to change the mindset of people, and then they want to be involved. Then they're bringing ideas to the table. ...," he said.

"There's fundraising and charities out there that we've never heard of that are brought to the table by other staff members, other employees. Once again, just that constant adaptive thinking.

"The turnouts (at events) are always really surprising of how many people get involved. It trickles down, and so now you have other people giving and getting involved outside of the company," Millay said.

Kim McMahon, who is a cancer survivor, has a huge heart for supporting cancer prevention and patient services, her husband said.

McMahon's hosts a mobile mammogram unit at its store at the Glenbrook Square shopping mall in Fort Wayne and offers free oil changes for all the women who get a mammogram.

Several years ago, Kim McMahon participated in a cancer charity walk and so many of her employees wanted to join and support her, that the company had to turn some of them down so the retail stores could remain open and staffed, Bubba McMahon said.

"And that's the frustrating part is we can't short the stores. That's our hardest dilemma. I do not like to get into our employees' personal time. … You have to rotate around that a lot," he said.

Some employees volunteer during work hours or on their personal time on Saturdays. Some will rotate Saturday shifts so they can participate in a weekend event, such as the Tour de Fort bicycling event through town, which raises money for veterans' services, he said.

The company's community and charity involvement can help with employment recruiting, Kim McMahon added.

"I think the younger people are much more appreciative of companies that give back and want to be involved in the community. That really means something to them," she said.

Six years ago, Jim Garigen had a falling out with a charity he worked with after it wouldn't help a homeless veteran because it was outside its mission scope.

"I found myself later that day in Kim's office at the Glenbrook location, and I was in tears. I was so broken, I didn't understand. And Kim sat across that table, after she gave me the hug she always provides, and she said, 'Jim, I don't know what you're going to do for veterans but it's going to be something.' And the very next day I founded Invisible Vets," he recalled.

Invisible Vets Ltd., a non-profit serving homeless veterans, became a reality in 2016.

"Kim was probably more influential in this organization becoming something viable than my dream. Her words of mentorship and wisdom gave me the courage to step out on faith and to become a viable 501(c)(3)," Garigen said.

"And ever since that time she has just been probably the most important person to me in the work that we do. She was our first member of the board of directors; she is now a board member emeritus … but she is a phone call away."

The charity supplies a "dignity bag" that contains supplies for living on the streets, such as food, a tarp, a sleeping bag, bus passes and a grocery gift card. The organization also offers support to families touched by veteran suicide, helps those facing utility disconnects and evictions, and transports veterans to hospital appointments.

The charity has expanded to an 11-county area around Fort Wayne and impacted thousands, he said. There are also satellite groups in several other states.

The charity got its initial funding boost of $13,000 from the McMahon golf outing in 2017.

"They brought in so much money that allowed us to not only take care of our initial mission but to expand the veterans that we reach and our region of support," he said.

"There is not a day that goes by that I cannot reach out and say, 'Hey we have a need.' And she will find a way for the company and the McMahon family to support the Invisible Vets efforts."

He said that since the beginning of the pandemic, philanthropic giving has dried up for local "mom-and-pop non-profits."

"So when our funds dried up, we were able to fund it ourselves for a while, but it's paramount that these companies still partner with us in the community. With Kim, Bubba and (co-owner Randy Geyer) and the entire family, there's no doubt in my mind that if we needed something, that they would say, 'What is it you need?'"

Kim doesn't just provide financial support but also words of encouragement, he added.

"Without Kim and the McMahon family, Invisible Vets would not have had the impact that we've had."

The charity's motto is: "When a community comes together, great things get done."

"I think that when it comes to the McMahons," he said.

The Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum in Fort Wayne has the motto, "Where no veteran will ever be forgotten," which is meaningful to many of McMahon's employees and customers who are military veterans, according to Kim McMahon.

The 40-acre property, home to a museum and a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is off the beaten path outside of town, but it provides a peaceful retreat for veterans and visitors.

In May 2021 the museum dedicated its Vietnam Veterans Wall, an 80% replica of the official wall in Washington D.C. It was the first traveling replica, which traversed the country for 13 years before the organization bought it.

The Fort Wayne wall, like the original, is 360 feet long and features the 58,320 names of those who died in the war.

"When veterans come to visit the wall or they come to pay respects to their relatives, it's very quiet and it's respectful. It's an atmosphere where they don't feel any pressure," Eric Johnson, 2nd vice commander of the museum, said.

"It provides closure for people. People call this the healing wall, and I think they do that for a reason because I think once someone, maybe they haven't been to D.C., and they come here and they get that closure that they would have had if they had gone to Washington, D.C. and visited the wall there, which is very moving, believe me."

Johnson has known the McMahon family for 40 years and had worked with Kim McMahon on designing a new company logo before he retired from his marketing career.

He said all the veterans associated with the museum take their vehicles for service at McMahon's Best-One "because we like to support those who support us."

This year the museum received $10,000 from the McMahon golf outing. The money will go toward building a larger museum and a chapel, as well as the maintenance of the 40-acre grounds.

"They are touching generations, kids, veterans, the grandchildren, the aunts and uncles," board member Pat Fraizer said of the McMahons. "It's amazing because of their generosity what they are doing for people. That's the importance of just not donating but they are touching lives for generations."

The museum includes artifacts — uniforms, weapons, insignias, and other artifacts — from every American war. The organization also provides group counseling sessions for vets and their spouses and raises money for service dogs for veterans.

The museum and memorial hosted more than 10,000 visitors last year and Johnson said he hopes the visitor count will double next year after the new museum opens. The wall itself helped boost attendance, which previously stood at about 1,500 visitors a year.

Twice a year McMahon's Best-One hosts a Humane Fort Wayne adopt-a-thon event inside its Coliseum Boulevard retail store, where customers who come in for an oil change often leave with a new puppy.

Nearly all the animals are adopted at those events, sometimes even by McMahon's employees, Jessica Henry, executive director of Humane Fort Wayne, said.

Henry first met Kim McMahon about eight years ago when McMahon's Best-One contacted Humane Fort Wayne, a local non-profit animal shelter, about being the beneficiary of its annual golf outing.

Henry attended the outing, with an adoptable puppy, to explain to the guests what the shelter does. She joked that she thought Kim McMahon was going to leave with that puppy.

"I think I saw in her eyes that day a real affinity not just for that adorable dog that I had, but really for the work that we do at our organization. And so that's how we met, and that's how we sparked a relationship. For almost a decade McMahon's has been our partner in lifesaving here in Fort Wayne," Henry said.

The two organizations partner on other events all year.

"We can always expect McMahon's to be at our signature events. They always have a table right up front, and Kim always has her bidder paddle (at our auctions) — and I think Bubba (her husband) will try to keep her hand down on the table," she laughed. "But she is a mighty supporter."

The city hosts an annual Three Rivers Festival Parade in which local businesses and organizations enter floats.

"This year McMahon's chose Humane Fort Wayne as their non-profit, and they built a float that won ('most creative')," she said.

McMahon's employees transformed a semi-tractor trailer into a mobile fenced-in dog park with fake grass — and eight adoptable puppies running around on the float.

"Of course, the kids were going wild," Henry said.

Last year Humane Fort Wayne auctioned 25 large plastic love seats, straddled by a large dog and cat, that were painted by local artists. Prior to the charity auction, the benches were displayed around town, including one McMahon's sponsored and displayed outside one of its stores.

"McMahon's sponsored the love seats as their way of supporting not just Humane Fort Wayne but, in that particular instance, it was really about community involvement. … Then at our signature event, where Kim had a paddle, she bought a second love seat."

The benches are displayed in the waiting area of the Illinois Road location and outside the door of the Coliseum Boulevard store.

"More importantly they support us in spirit, more than just about any company in Fort Wayne," Henry said, noting the dealership is a corporate partner.

"But really more than that, they're friends, and that is because of Kim and Bubba, too. But Kim's spirit, her spirit just radiates, and she cares about her community."

The animal shelter offers a spay/neuter clinic, a wellness clinic and a social services program to help low-income pet owners get supplies and resources they need to care for their animals. The organization adopts out 2,500 animals per year and cares for 24,000 cats and dogs at its clinic.

McMahon's asks its business customers during corporate events to help support the shelter.

"They don't just donate to us, they raise money for us at those particular events. Talk about why they are the best corporate partner we could have," Henry said. "They put their money where their mouth is and then they ask other organizations and companies to do the same.

She said McMahon's tries to encourage the whole community to get behind the charities it supports.

"Because they have so many locations, when we're doing something with McMahon's, it means they're spreading the message far and wide all over this area about the work that we do and how they support it. And then they encourage others to do the same," Henry said.

The founder of Kate's Kart Inc., Krista Layman, has turned loss into something positive for others.

Her daughter Kate was born 15 years ago with a severe heart defect and lived only 18 months. Most of her life was spent in or around a hospital and Layman, with her husband Andy, soothed her by reading books to her.

"After she passed, we were really inspired to do something to help remember her and to help others who are going through life in the hospital," Layman said.

Kate's Kart distributes between 1,500 and 2,000 new books to children in local hospitals every month for a total of 355,000 books so far.

Her non-profit started with a book cart at Lutheran Hospital of Indiana in Fort Wayne in 2008 and the project has since expanded to 21 hospitals in northeast Indiana.

"Our mission is to provide a comforting diversion to hospital kids so when they are scared, they bored, they're hurting, teams of volunteers and hospital staff provide them with that new book. We focus hard on getting the books that are going to bring a lot of joy and fun and distract them from what's going on," Layman said.

McMahon's Best-One has supported the non-profit for years, initially hosting a book drive during the company Christmas party and has since been offering tires and maintenance services for the organization's vehicle at cost.

This November, as it has the past five years, McMahon's will match donations up to $4,000 given to Kate's Kart on Giving Tuesday, the nationwide charity-giving event on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

"That's a huge incentive for our givers because they know that if they are giving $20, it's actually $40," Layman said.

ACRES Land Trust is a member-supported nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting land in northeast Indiana and portions of southern Michigan and northwest Ohio.

Over a five-year period beginning in 2015, volunteers cleared out 1,751 scrap tires that were dumped at the Walter H. and E. Marie Myers Nature Preserve on Flowers Creek in Fort Wayne.

In 2019, McMahon's Best-One sent a crew of employees to help haul tires, provided trailers to transport them and covered ACRES' cost to recycle the tires.

"When they saw our challenge, they returned the following weekend to do even more on their own," ACRES reported. "Many thanks, McMahon's! Your service went beyond our expectations and made the commendable efforts of our volunteer crew possible."

In 2020, muddy conditions made for a messy and arduous work for volunteers clearing tires, so the organization was able to hold a drawing and award one of its volunteers with a $500 gift card to McMahon's Best-One.