EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services recently thanked 32 auto auction vendors throughout the United States who stepped up to support Hurricane Katrina victims.

Paul Seger, vice president of asset remarketing at the Barrington, Ill., GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services office, said, “When Hurricane Katrina occurred, GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services and the auto vendors wanted to do something different to help raise money for the United Way campaign. What we saw was truly an outpouring of support, resulting in more than $28,000 raised for hurricane victims. This event was a great contributor in helping Fleet Services achieve a record total of $338,000 raised for the United Way.”

Working together through its Remarketing Field Sales team, Fleet Services partnered with the vendors to auction off a prize at the end of each auction to benefit the United Way rather than award a prize to the top buyer. The buying dealers gave generous bids, paying far more for the prizes than they were valued.

Auction companies raffled off items such as sports memorabilia, including a football autographed by members of the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl team, and the ADESA Auto Auction in Cincinnati, Ohio, sold one go-cart for $3,100. The overall top contributor was Brasher’s Salt Lake Auto Auction, which netted $5,000.

“We really want to recognize everyone involved in this event for their leadership and generosity,” Seger said. “We have worked together on the United Way campaign before, but this year took things to a whole new level. Because of our partnership and focus on the hurricane victims, auction donations increased 50 percent this year. It was inspirational to work with the auction houses on this effort, and I was proud to be associated with such an outstanding group of professional partners.”

Participants included: ABC Minneapolis,LLC, ABC Nashville,LLC, ADESA Cincinati-Dayton, ADESA Colorado Springs and ADESA Golden Gate, Brasher's Salt Lake Auto Auction, Brasher's Sacramento Auto Auction, Manheim's Central Florida Auto Auction, Manheim's Denver Auto Auction, DFW Auto Auction, Expressway Auto Auction, Greater Auto Auction Phoenix, Greater Chicago Auto Auction, Southern Auto Sales, Inc., Greater Rockford Auto Auction, Harrisburg Auto Auction, Idaho Auto Auction, Inc., Imperial Auto Auction, Greater Kalamazoo Auto Auction, Kansas City Auto Auction, Metro Milwaukee Auto Auction, Morton Auto Auction, Mountain States Auto Auction, National Auto Dealers Exchange, Ohio Auto Auction, Greater Pensacola Auto Auction, Riverside Auto Auction, South Seattle Auto Auction, Greater Nevada Auto Auction, DAA Northwest, Statesville Auto Auction, and Texas Hobby Auto Auction.