Great American Give-Away Number One!

We have a winner!

Last Saturday, April 15th, we drew the winner of our Great American Give-Away, and boy, did we have a great time. If we keep having this much fun giving things away, it'll become a habit!	Serving up food and fun at Braeger!
Choosing the winner!	We invited six finalists to join us for some food, and fun before the big drawing, and we got a chance to talk with all of them. At that point, we realized that no matter who won, we'd be happy. All six finalists were happy, fun, and definitely deserved a new car.
Unfortunately for five of them though, only one could win, and that winner was... Juan Valadez!	Juan fills in his finalist entry form
The grand prize!	Juan drove home in a brand new, Cherry Red, Cobalt Sedan. It would be an understatement to say I've never ever seen anyone quite as excited before. We know this Cobalt is getting a great home.

Congratulations Juan!

The other five contestants didn't go home empty handed either. They were given prizes ranging from free oil changes to roadside emergency kits. And of course, everyone left with a smile!

Be sure to enter our Great American Give-Away Number Two! We'll be drawing for another new car grand prize on the 4th of July!

Escape Hybrid a campus star for Earth Day!

April 22nd marked Earth Day this year, and what a beautiful day it was! To celebrate the occasion, UWM sponsored an entire week of Earth-friendly events and information. Of course when they invited Braeger to participate, we jumped at the opportunity.

In their week-long lineup, April 18th was "Clean Energy" day. To show how auto manufacturers were joining in the effort to help reduce pollution, UWM asked us to put together a display addressing hybrid vehicles. After much research and preparation, when the day arrived we were ready! We took a brand new Escape Hybrid to Spaights Plaza, and almost completely covered it with information describing how hybrid vehicles work, how they reduce emissions, why reduced emissions are important, and the rewards a person can get for doing their part.

The Escape Hybrid drew attention from UWM students throughout the day.

Here's a quick list of some interesting things we learned while putting together this presentation:

• The EPA estimates a hybrid vehicle can produce 5.8 or less tons of greenhouse gasses in a year, while a conventional powertrain will produce 8.2 tons, or more!


• If you drive 15,000 miles in a year, and if gas costs $2.50 per gallon, you save $804 if you get 35 MPG instead of 20 MPG. If gas costs more (and it does!) your savings go up!


• At its debut, the Ford Escape Hybrid was driven for 37 straight hours, covering 576 miles on the streets of Manhattan, all on one 15 gallon tank of gas!


• Since Carbon Dioxide is a natural result of any combustion, the only way for a car to produce less carbon Dioxide (a major contributor to global warming) is to burn less gas.


• The Ford Escape Hybrid is a "Zero Evaporative Emission" vehicle, which means it actually produces less emissions while driving than conventional vehicles do when standing still!


• It's been estimated that if all motor vehicles sold within the Los Angeles basin were "Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles" (like the Escape Hybrid) the area's severe smog problem would disappear within 15 years!

That's some pretty impressive information! For more, you can visit the EPA website (www.fueleconomy.gov) or the state of California's Driveclean (www.driveclean.ca.gov) webiste.

If you're interested in saving money on fuel, and helping the environment, remember to chck to see if your car can use E-85 fuel! Even if your car can't use E-85 fuel, be sure to check out our list of things anyone can do to get better gas mileage.

Happy Earth Day!

"We need more companies like Braeger"

Wow. Sometimes you read something and it just makes you feel good. Many might remember how Braeger saved the Western Days Parade last year. This year, Braeger has continued its commitment, and TJ Meyers-Jansky, the vice president of West Allis Charities couldn't be happier.

In fact, this glowing quote just appeared in the West Allis Star, the local community paper:

We need more companies like Braeger to pitch in and help us keep our organization and annual fundraising festival operating for years to come.
--TJ Meyers-Jansky

Now, I've always believed Milwaukee needed more businesses like Braeger; it's nice to see that other people agree with me too.