SALT LAKE CITY — Gail Miller, owner and chairwoman of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, is one of six dealers from around the world to be honored for exceptional community service as part of Ford Motor Co.’s Salute to Dealers awards.
“Our dealers are valued partners in building trust for and loyalty to the Ford brand with our customers,” Edsel B. Ford II, chairman of the award program and a member of the company’s board of directors, said in a statement. “They are the face of Ford and Lincoln in communities around the world, and today we are happy to applaud their commitment and dedication to building stronger, healthier, more connected communities.”
Among the Utah Jazz owner’s many contributions, Ford cited the annual Larry H. Miller Day of Service, an initiative where employees donate thousands of hours helping at-risk youths, families of critically ill children and domestic abuse victims, many in need of food, shelter and other critical services.
In addition, Miller was lauded for providing a matching grant of $10 million through the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation to help build three new homeless resource centers in the Salt Lake Valley as well as establishing a diabetes prevention program with the University of Utah. That initiative includes a wellness bus that serves vulnerable populations with free and low-cost screenings for diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
Just last month, Miller announced her family would donate $50 million toward a $500 million endeavor by Intermountain Healthcare to create a national model for children’s health care, including a new Primary Children’s Hospital campus in Lehi.
Five judges selected the six winners from a global field of nearly 65 nominees representing the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe, Asia Pacific, Mexico and Central America. As part of the program, Ford Motor Co. Fund and Community Services will donate $10,000 to a charity of each dealer’s choice, and a painting of each honoree featuring a montage of the philanthropic and volunteer activities that led to the award will be displayed in the lobby of Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
The other honorees hail from Falls Church, Virginia; Louisville, Kentucky; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Versmold, Germany.