BMW CCA Foundation

The Foundation's History

Foundation History

In March, 2002, the BMW Car Club of America, an organization of over 79,000 members, formed the non-profit, tax-exempt charitable BMW CCA Foundation, Inc., to provide benefits to the motoring public community and owners of BMW automobiles. Its charter under Section 501(c)(3) enables the Foundation to establish programs to benefit the public in general, and BMW owners specifically. The vision of the Foundation is to be a significant repository of BMW information and to foster educational programs for the automotive community.

To that end, the Foundation established three programs to help accomplish its mission: The Preservation and Restoration Program (PRP), The Library, Archives and Museum Program (LAM), and The Driver Safety School Program (DSS).

  1. The Preservation and Restoration Program (PRP)
    The PRP supports educational programs that foster and promote the art of vehicle preservation and restoration. To that end, funds for scholarships supporting automotive restoration will be pursued.
  2. The Library, Archives and Museum Program (LAM)
    The Library, Archives and Museum Program will create a repository for BMW-related historical documents, literature and paraphernalia, providing club members with access to rare and interesting BMW artifacts while insuring their continued existence. This archive will be housed in South Carolina near the BMW CCA National Office and BMW Manufacturing.
  3. The Driver Safety School Program (DSS)
    Hoping to reduce accidents, injuries and deaths, the DSS Program promotes and conducts educational projects to improve the car handling skills of young drivers, especially teenagers. The DSS Program is headlined by the “Street Survival Teen Driving School” that is conducted in various parts of the U.S.

The BMW CCA Foundation is governed by seven Trustees with limited time terms. Additionally, three Honorary Trustees and the BMW CCA Executive Director, Frank Patek, attend Trustee’s Meetings to provide insight into Foundation issue

With 2011 making an entrance, the Trustees are once again developing strategies for the best use of funding so that the number of Street Survival Schools planned for 2010 rises by 30% over those in 2011. Additions to the museum and archive are to increase and the Foundation has accepted its first donation of a rather eclectic BMW.