Last Friday the Herb Brooks Foundation’s Annual Golf Classic took place at Victory Links Golf Course and we were happy to be in attendance once again. We have had an ongoing partnership with the Herb Brooks Foundation over the past year and it has been our pleasure to support the organization.

Throughout the winter season we supported the Herb Brooks Rink Rat program by providing shuttles and transporting Minneapolis public school students to parks in the area so that they could learn the sport of hockey. We are always looking for ways to give back to our community and our partnership with the Herb Brooks Foundation allows us to do just that.

This was the second year we sponsored the Herb Brooks Golf Open. We had a team of Morrie’s employees that played in the tournament and we also brought a few cars out to the event. Check out our photos and video coverage. We look forward to another successful Golf Classic next summer!

You can imagine Matthew’s excitement when he found out we were there to grant the wish that he had patiently been waiting over a year for. We trailered the Charger back to our Minnetonka Ford store where we immediately began with a mechanical evaluation. We made sure to document the process of the restoration through a series of blog posts with videos and photos. You can check it out here. The story created a lot of buzz throughout the community and we were excited to be able to share it with everyone. We soon realized the amount of dedication and compassion that is present within the Morrie’s community amongst employees when they began volunteering their time and energy to help with the restoration.

It has been a long and rewarding process to help make Matthew’s wish come true and we were so thrilled to be able to finally surprise him this past weekend when he was least expecting it. We planned to have Matthew and his family visit for the weekend to tour a few of Morrie’s vehicles. He had no idea that towards the end of his tour, he would find his 1968 Dodge Charger, fully restored and finally complete. We held a small event with members of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Morrie’s employees and vendors that worked on the restoration, and Matthew’s family.

The following morning, Matthew got to show his new Charger off at MN C&C , a car event that Morrie’s sponsors the first Saturday of each month throughout the summer. Matthew’s Charger looked great amongst all the other classic and exotic vehicles at the event and sure got a lot of attention. Stay tuned for a separate blog post highlighting the June C&C event and a special segment featuring Matthew’s appearance.

With over 600 hours of work, more than 40 employees, and a dozen different vendors, Matthew’s wish finally became a reality. All the time and hard work paid off when we all saw the look on Matthew’s face Friday night when he first laid eyes on the car. We were so proud to be able to work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation to help make this wish come true and we truly appreciate the opportunity to give back to our community and a great family like Matthew’s.

Thanks to WCCO Channel 4 News for covering Matthew’s story and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota for allowing us the opportunity to grant this wish.

The Mazda2 racecar build is complete and TCLA Service Manager, Michael Ashby has been working closely with McCarthy and the Miracles of Mitch Foundation to raise money for children in need. Ashby and McCarthy became aware of the Miracles of Mitch Foundation when they participated in an event sponsored by our Mazda and TCLA stores. The event allowed us, as well as our customers to donate a bike to the Miracles of Mitch Foundation for each car that was sold in April. McCarthy and Ashby felt inspired to continue a partnership with the Miracles of Mitch Foundation. To them, the foundation carries a message that everyone needs to hear and they decided to embrace the idea of helping the foundation to raise funds.

McCarthy, Ashby and other members of the Morrie’s Automotive Group and Twin Cities Luxury Auto recently brought the Mazda2 Racecar to the people who would likely appreciate it the most, the children of the Miracles of Mitch Foundation. During a recent event, children were able to trace their handprints and sign a decal in the color of their choosing before if was transferred onto the racecar. The kids loved the idea that their handprints would be with the drivers on the car during the race competitions it will be competing in.

We all had a great time meeting the children, we gave out coloring sheets and a model car for them to play with and they selected the spot on the Mazda2 where they wanted their handprints to go. The next event will be held at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Hospital where we hope to get more handprints to fill the other half of the car.

The idea for the signing came from Michael Ashby, who is a father of two. He believes that parents will appreciate the Miracles of Mitch Foundation’s message for many reasons. We here at Morrie’s and TCLA believe that helping children with illness is a benefit for many, but it also gives parents an opportunity to teach their children about Mitch’s message and his desire to help others and give back.

At the end of the year the Mazda2 is prepared to compete in the 25 hours of Thunderhill Endurance Race and we hope to get sponsorships for each hour we compete, with all the proceeds going to the Miracles of Mitch Foundation. The car is also prepared to compete in the Pirelli World Challenge, which has venues across the United States and the Regional and National Sports Car Club of America. You will be seeing the Mazda2 much closer to home in Brainerd Minnesota over Memorial Day as well. We are very excited to see the Mazda2 compete at some of America’s most celebrated and historic racetracks all while helping give back to the foundation.

Racing is important to the people that compete, however, the Miracles of Mitch Foundation has helped everybody involved with a focus on the things that are really important. As Ashby and McCarthy say, “that is Mitch’s gift to us all”. Mitch is an inspiration, his desire to give back and help others has set all the wheels in motion for this partnership and we are so proud to be able to give back to such a wonderful community organization.

Up until recently visible progress on the Charger could be seen on a daily basis, but recently our team has been working diligently on the details you cannot see.   We’ve reached the stage where the hunt for small and seldom noticed trim pieces slows down the restoration process.  Despite a healthy aftermarket for vintage muscle car parts, we’ve run into a couple of “needle in the haystack” situations.

The good news is that we’ve been able to track down all the outstanding parts.  The not so good news is that some of these parts aren’t scheduled to arrive until the middle of June.  Needless to say we won’t hit our May completion target and it’s looking like late-June is a more reasonable completion target.  Fortunately, like the aging of a fine wine,  the extra time will give us time to get everything dialed in perfectly for when Matthew takes the wheel this summer.

Check out the update photos below and be sure to check back often for updates.

The Mother Baby Center opened earlier this year and was designed to care for all deliveries and bring patients the best mother and baby care possible. Abbott Northwestern delivers more babies than any other hospital in Minnesota, making this the perfect place for this birthing center. The center is equipped with state of the art technology and highly trained staff. One of the goals of the Mother Baby Center is to keep the mother and her child together as much as possible, even post-birth. They have created a space that caters to all different types of birthing situations making it one of the most versatile birthing centers today.

We were happy to be able to provide a 2013 Crystal Red Cadillac SRX and $1,000 worth of gas that helped raise over $13,000 for this event. We were so thankful to be able to support such a wonderful cause. Check out some of our photos from the event below.

Take one of our new Ford vehicles for a spin and Ford Motor Company will donate $20 for every test drive up to $6,000 to Delano Elementary School! We will be bringing a range of different vehicles from our lineup including an F-150, Mustang, Fusion, Focus, Taurus, Escape, Fiesta, Edge, C-MAX and more! Get there early because the first 300 drivers will receive a free pair of Ford sunglasses!

Here at Morrie’s we look for opportunities to give back to the community and this weekend, you can help. We look forward to a great turnout to help raise money for this local school!

Delano Elementary School is located at 678 Tiger Drive, Delano, MN 55328. If you have any questions please call us at 763-682-1622.

The Miracles of Mitch Foundation was formed by Steve and Becky Chepokas in memory of their son Mitch. Since his passing in 2003, the MOMF has provided financial and quality-of-life support to the families of children being treated for cancer in Minnesota.

The United Health Care Foundation helps children who have medical needs that may not be fully covered by insurance. The UHCCF is a place for families to turn to for funding and services for these children.

Throughout this partnership, Morrie’s customers were given a Strider Bike with the purchase of any new Mazda. They could choose to keep the bike, benefiting the UHCCF, or they could help a second child by donating the bicycle to the Miracles of Mitch Foundation.

We are so proud to be able to give back to two wonderful organizations and enjoyed seeing our Morrie’s customers give back to these organizations as well. Check out the pictures below of some of our customers that donated their bikes with their new car purchase.

The car has really started to take shape and with spring around the corner the timing couldn’t be better.  We still have a lot of work ahead, but with a little luck, and a lot of elbow grease, the car should be ready before June rolls around.

Phase 3: The Roll Cage and Wrap

We’ve been hard at work restoring Matthew’s 1968 Dodge Charger and we’re excited to share the latest updates with you. The charger is currently at our body shop in Brooklyn Park where it just received a fresh coat of paint! Per Matthew’s request, we painted the vehicle Mopar Silver, and we think it was a great choice. The vehicle is slowly but surely starting to look as good as it did the day it rolled off the showroom floor. We are very excited to see Matthew’s reaction once the Charger has been fully restored.

The vehicle is currently getting upholstered and once that is finished we will begin the assembly process. Make sure to stay tuned for more coverage! Until then, take a look back on all of our restoration updates to see the progress we’ve made so far.