Pink may not seem the obvious color choice for construction equipment, but it is this season’s ‘must-have’ accessory for any construction site in Georgia, USA, thanks to Ed Mchale, general manager of Volvo Rents, Georgia.
Ed decided to paint one of his Volvo EC140B excavators pink and donate the rental money to Breast Cancer Research, after a scare with his wife brought the disease a little too close to home.
“I felt that we needed to do more to raise awareness about Breast Cancer Research and the incredibly important work that they do for people suffering with
the disease,” says Ed. “When things got rocky last year with the economy, so many companies cut their external programs and many charities suffered as a consequence,” he continues.
“We wanted to give something back to the community, despite the economic situation, and it has been a great success!”
Ed’s aptly named ‘Digging for a Cure’ machine has been so popular in Georgia that power company, Georgia Power, requires that any contractor working with them has to use the pink Volvo excavator first, before a similar model can be used. A portion of the proceeds from each rental is donated to Breast Cancer Research and Ed and his team have already raised over 2,000 dollars for the charity. “Our excavator has been delivered all over the state and we’re now considering painting more machines for the cause,” concludes Ed.
Ed’s excavator is one of many construction equipment machines that are being painted in over 20 markets across North America as part of an initative run by Volvo Rents called Color for a Cause. The campaign started in 2009 and local Volvo Rents franchisers are invited to pick a cause that they’re passionate about, or personally affected by, and paint their machines a color which corresponds to the charity.
In Arkansas, the team has painted several machines yellow and green to support the charity Foodbank, which helps to feed the poor. In Alabama, the general manager of the store,
whose child has Autism, has decorated a machine with puzzle pieces, to symbolize the complexity of the developmental disability.
Customers are encouraged to rent the colorful machines and a percentage, ranging from 10-50% is donated to the charity by Volvo Rents. Customers can also make a direct donation to the charity and over 50,000 dollars has been raised so far.
Volvo Rents vice president of Marketing, Nick Mavrick, says the idea for the campaign came from Volvo’s core values. “One of Volvo Construction Equipment’s core values is social interest – being an active member of your community – and we’ve had the opportunity to help customers and demonstrate more care through this campaign,” says Nick. “Over the past year, we’ve made a real difference!”
Volvo Rents is a subsidiary of Volvo Construction Equipment in North America. Volvo Rents operates franchised stores and engages in the short term rent of both Volvo equipment and equipment from non-competitive manufacturers.
For further information, please visit www.volvoce.com/press or contact:
Bill Law, Director at External Communications, Volvo CE, +32 478 92 43 26, bill.law@volvo.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/VolvoCEMedia
Brian O’Sullivan, +44 77 333 50307, osullivan@se10.com