Buick Gets Into 2012 NCAA® March Madness®

As college basketball fans create their perfect bracket sheets, Buick, the NCAA partner of human achievement, launched its own busy month of March at General Motors headquarters on Monday, donating more than 300 pairs of shoes to needy children.

It is Buick’s second year of working with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization dedicated to helping cover the feet of 300 million shoeless children around the world.  Nearly 1 million of these children die each year from soil-transmitted illnesses and foot-borne diseases. The organization’s founder, Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme, was featured on the Buick Human Highlight Reel during last year’s NCAA basketball tournament.

The Buick Human Highlight Reel is an online collection and archive of short videos featuring former NCAA student-athletes whose greatest victories occur away from the game, where they apply their passion to serving those in need. 

New stories in this year’s Human Highlight Reel will be introduced on NCAA's Buick page, and many will air throughout coverage of this year’s tournament. Student-athletes to be featured include:

• Chris Duhon, a Duke basketball player from 2000-2004 who now plays professionally. His Stand Tall Foundation works with children to encourage teamwork, commitment, discipline, and work ethic through community outreach events.
• Amber Tollefson, a former Florida State soccer player who founded the Give N Go Project. While traveling abroad, Amber was inspired by poverty-stricken children playing soccer with nothing but goals made of sticks and a coconut for a ball. She now raises money to provide equipment and raise self-esteem in Third World countries.
• Tyrone Grant, who played college basketball at St. Johns. He now works with inner city youth in Brooklyn, N.Y., as a mentor through his Team First program. The organization uses competitive athletics to promote responsibility and teamwork.
• Jason Taylor, a University of Arizona football player who later had a career in the NFL. His Jason Taylor Foundation works to improve health care, education, and quality of life for children in southern Florida.

Buick’s NCAA Final Four® involvement  extends to New Orleans, as well. Bracket Town, an NCAA fan experience  located in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, is expected to attract more than 50,000 people and will feature two Buick displays. Fans will be able to get a close look at current Buick models, as well as the upcoming 2013 Encore crossover. They’ll also be able to compete in what is expected to be the world’s largest game of “knockout”, to win game tickets or other prizes. Buick will also be donating shoes to Samaritan’s Feet for every participant.

Samaritan’s Feet activities will continue in New Orleans, with Buick donating 2012 pair of shoes to impoverished children in the region. The handouts will be split across four different events at local schools and community centers.

“The NCAA Final Four showcases incredible human achievement on the basketball court,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of Buick Marketing. “With the Human Highlight Reel and our involvement with Samaritan’s Feet, Buick hopes to demonstrate the difference men and women can make away from the court, all around the world.”

Article and image courtesy of GM-Buick News.