A ‘Tail’ of a Dog and His Truck: Patriot Paws Wins GMC Sierra Hashtag Challenge

DALLAS - Sept. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- DALLAS, TEXAS (September 9, 2013)…On Friday night, September 6, 2013, at the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas at Country Fair 2013, the winner of the GMC Sierra Hashtag Challenge was announced. DFW GMC Dealers presented Patriot PAWS a check for $8000 and Snowball Express a check for $2,000.

On stage for the honors were John Bustetter, zone manager, South Central Region GMC; Carey Williams of James Wood Decatur Buick-GMC and Terry Dorsey, Host of the New Country 96.3 KSCS. They presented checks to Valerie Fry with Jazz, Patriot Paws, and Buck Kern, executive director of Snowball Express.

In honor of the new 2014 GMC Sierra, DFW GMC Dealers – in partnership with Cumulous Radio – the “GMC Sierra Hashtag Challenge” was launched to benefit two military charities – Patriot PAWS and Snowball Express. Terry Dorsey with New Country 96.3 KSCS led the challenge.

During the six-week challenge, DFW GMC Dealers had two 2014 GMC Sierra trucks in the Metroplex. One truck was wrapped with #TeamStripes for Patriot Paws and the other with #TeamStars for Snowball Express. The trucks traveled the Metroplex to various events and celebrations, and the public had the opportunity to have their photograph taken with each truck. Participants voted for a charity by uploading their photograph to Twitter and/or Instagram with their charity’s hashtag – #TeamStripes for Patriot Paws or #TeamStars for Snowball Express.

Over 73,000 photos were tweeted and posted. Team Stripes – Patriot PAWS had 57,804 photos tweeted and posted, and Team Stars – Snowball Express had 15,648.

For every photo taken at an event and posted with a hashtag, the submitter was entered to win a 2013 Country Fair VIP ticket package and the opportunity to help present the check to their chosen charity on stage during the Country Fair Concert presented by GMC Sierra. Lisa Cate of Justin, TX, was the lucky winner.

Country Fair is the biggest two-day country music event of the year. Montgomery Gentry, Pat Green, the Randy Rogers Band, Gary Allan, Kix Brooks and many more performed all on one stage!

“Patriot PAWS Service Dogs is both pleased and honored to have won the GMC Sierra Hashtag Challenge and would like to thank all of our dedicated Team Stripes supporters for making it happen,” said April Hull, in charge of business development. “The prize money will go a long way towards providing a service dog for a disabled veteran, and the exposure gained during the duration of the contest has been very valuable in helping us to make the public aware of our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and our mission of providing highly-trained service dogs at no charge to disabled American veterans. So to all of our supporters, both long-time and newly-gained, thank you for helping us give back to those who have given so much for all of us.”

“Snowball Express is extremely grateful to GMC for selecting us to participate in the GMC Charity Hashtag Challenge. The social media event gave us an opportunity to rally our families and supporters and have them participate as a team to spread the word about our organization,” said Francis “Buck” Kern, executive director of Snowball Express. “The GMC challenge helped us generate new Twitter followers and new friends on Facebook. The local events where we appeared in person with the wrapped GMC Sierra provided a great opportunity to meet the public, tell them about our cause, increase awareness and increase donations. Through our participation in the event, we were able to meet new organizations in Dallas/Fort Worth and include them in helping support the children of our fallen military heroes. Thank you for this great opportunity and wonderful experience.”

“The DFW GMC Dealers couldn’t be happier at the level of participation and support given to the GMC Sierra Hashtag Challenge,” said John Bustetter, zone manager, South Central Region GMC. “This also demonstrated strong support for what these military charities are doing to help our returning veterans and the families of those who will not be coming home. We want to thank everyone for coming out and for tweeting, retweeting and posting photos.”

2014 GMC Sierra
An all-new 2014 Sierra 1500 Denali full-size pickup is available with a 6.2L EcoTec3 V-8 that will produce an estimated 420 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, the most power and torque of any light duty truck engine. A 5.3L EcoTec3 V-8 is standard for the 2014 Sierra Denali. It produces 355 horsepower and offers better EPA-estimated fuel economy (23 mpg highway on 2WD models) than any V-8 or turbocharged V-6 pickup on the market.

The Stars Sierra was a 1500 2WD Crew Cab SLE Texas Edition. It includes popular options like power driver's seat, remote vehicle start, trailering package and has an MSRP of 40,810.

The Stripes Sierra was a 1500 4WD Crew Cab SLT Texas Edition. It features all new options like front and rear park assist, heated and cooled seats and has an MSRP of 50,495.

For more information on DFW GMC, visit www.facebook.com/GMCDFW.


Contact: Jo Trizila, TrizCom Inc., jo@TrizCom.com, Office: 972-247-1369, Cell: 214-232-0078