500 Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Volunteers Support Eight Metro Detroit Nonprofits During Fourth-Annual Week of Caring

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Sept. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 500 volunteers will mobilize across Metropolitan Detroit to support eight nonprofit organizations during Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' fourth-annual Week of Caring. Week of Caring is a week-long community service campaign that Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, a leading automotive financial services provider in the U.S., has organized as part of its corporate commitment to making a difference in the communities where its team members live and work. The volunteer projects vary, all of which will serve the communities surrounding the company's Farmington Hills corporate headquarters.

"Week of Caring is an all-hands-on-deck affair for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and an opportunity for team members to give their time helping to better our local communities," said Peter Zieringer, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. "The organizations with which we are partnering this year are truly making a life-changing impact on the communities they serve, and seeing everything that our volunteers accomplish is always the highlight of the week."

Volunteers from the company's business operations center, located in Fort Worth, Texas, are also participating in week-long projects during the Week of Caring, and the company's locations in Atlanta, Georgia, Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Mississauga, Canada, will be taking part in one-day projects as well. In total, more than 1,200 volunteers will dedicate more than 8,000 hours of volunteer service, benefitting 26 different nonprofit organizations. Since its inception in 2013, more than 75 volunteer projects, spanning nearly 35,000 hours of service, have been completed during Week of Caring.

"Social responsibility is one of our Core Values and a foundational tenet of our business," added Zieringer. "The Week of Caring is just one of many initiatives in Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' year-round mission to be a positive force in the community."

Project examples include: working with underserved students and families; planting and harvesting gardens; preparing food for those in need; neighborhood cleanup and beautification; and helping build a home for deserving families. Participants will volunteer at a community project of their choice with one of the following nonprofit organizations:

1. Eight Mile Boulevard Association (Ferndale, Mich.) www.eightmile.org   
   Volunteers will participate in refreshing Detroit's Knudsen Park, building raised planting beds for the community garden, improving the landscaping, completing a human sundial art feature and painting game "boards" on the basketball court to make it more multi-functional.
2. Beyond Basics (Southfield, Mich.) www.beyondbasics.org  
   Detroit's Thirkell Elementary School students will complete both an individual and collaborative art project with the assistance of company volunteers as part of the Beyond Basics International Art & Writing program.
3. Community Living Centers (Farmington, Mich.) www.clchomes.org  
   Enhancements will be made to one of Community Living Centers' group homes to improve the conditions for its residents, including painting, landscaping and building furniture.
4. Forgotten Harvest (Oak Park, Mich.) www.forgottenharvest.org 
   Volunteers will work on Forgotten Harvest's 103-acre farm in Deerfield Township and in its warehouse in Oak Park to help produce food for emergency food providers in metro-Detroit.
5. Humble Design (Pontiac, Mich.) www.humbledesign.org  
   Volunteers will team up with Humble Design to furnish and decorate homes for families transitioning out of homelessness.
6. Macomb County Habitat for Humanity (Mount Clemens, Mich.) http://macombhabitat.org/ 
   A new home will be built for a family in need as volunteers work on a current Habitat build in Eastpointe.
7. Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (Detroit, Mich.) www.miufi.org  
   Volunteers will spend the week planting a fruit orchard as a means of creating a sustainable food source in Detroit's North End community.
8. Neighborhood Service Organization (Detroit, Mich.) www.nso-mi.org
   A former office space will be transformed into the only youth drop-in center accessible for the 450+ youth who participate in Neighborhood Service Organization's programs and services at the Harper-Gratiot Multi-Service Center.

To follow the progress of Week of Caring on social media, go to:
Social Media Hashtag:  #everycommunitymatters, #weekofcaring, #MBFS
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mymbfs 
Instagram: @MercedesBenz_FS
Twitter: @Mercedes_BenzFS    

About Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC:
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, with Business Center Operations in Fort Worth, Texas, provides brand‐specific financial products and services for Mercedes‐Benz and smart automotive dealers and their retail customers. In the U.S. trucking industry, it conducts business as Daimler Truck Financial and provides flexible financial products and services for Daimler Trucks North America commercial vehicles branded Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Bus and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc. Mercedes‐Benz Financial Services USA LLC serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and has approximately 1,800 employees throughout the Americas. It is a company of the Daimler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, which does business in 40 countries and has an employee base of approximately 8,800 people worldwide. Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading financial services organizations worldwide and was named one of the 25 World's Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place To Work Institute in 2014. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA was also named one of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials in 2015 and 2016, and one of the 100 Best Workplaces for Women in 2016 by Great Place to Work and Fortune.com. For more information, please visit www.mbfs.com/corp or facebook.com/mymbfs. For more information about Daimler Truck Financial, log onto www.daimler-truckfinancial.com.

SOURCE Mercedes-Benz Financial Services

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