ALAN HELFMAN A Lifetime of Achievements -A True Hero to Thousands of Houstonians & First Responders. natures of JJ Watt and stuff, because they needed to smile. Their house was destroyed; but guess what they had going up on their wall, a gorgeous picture of Altuve that might be worth a lot of money someday. So, I always liked sports memorabilia, and it creates a lot of energy and fundraising dollars. Thirty years ago, I met Mrs. Georgia Provost. I was doing a scholarship for A.B. Chambers who was a constable here. He wanted to put two people through college and called me. So, I said, “I’ll help you.” I heard her talking behind me at the fundraiser. I said I need to permeate some cash into 3rd Ward, 4th Ward and 5th Ward and I need someone to do a fund raiser each month.” And she said, “I know everyone.” I said, “Ok, your payments won’t go up on your Grand Cherokee, and I’ll make sure you have a new one in the driveway almost every year.” That’s been facilitated for close to 30 years. She helps me. We’ve probably done 80 fund raisers for Texas Southern, and we have done KTSU twice a year for over 30 years now. She attends all the events in a brand-new Grand Cherokee. We’ve run for politics three times. When I was Mayor Lee Brown’s right-hand guy, he put me as one of the people on the committee to help with the Compaq Center Lakewood Church Project; and I also helped do Sky Bridge at MD Anderson which was a major project; Mayor Lee Brown helped me a lot with that as well as Dr. David Calendar. Many times, I’ll be working on a car deal or something, and I try to make dreams happen for people. I get pretty creative in what I need to do to make sure you get the opportunity to drive away in a car. I’m able to do that because I have the liquidity to do that. We’ve raised 0,000 for the Houston Fire Department. I’ve done close to 80 fund raisers at TSU with Mrs. Provost. This year I gave two cars to the fire department, I gave HPD a van for their Explorers program, Rick Noriega the state rep over at the Ronald McDonald House told me his eight-year-old van was broken down, so I gave him a Pacifica and then I gave one to Rice University. I have given away five cars this year. I normally do three a year. I’m the only dealership in the city that does that on a regular basis. I try to give ,000 in auction items. Usually, I am a big proponent to Texas Southern, Houston Baptist, and Rice Universities. Seven Acres Geriatrics Center was destroyed during the hurricane 400 people had to be moved out to other centers. They said, “This year we want to honor you, Alan”, and I said, “How much do you need me to raise for you?” They replied, “0,000.” So, I went to see the center on Braeswood, and I said, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to raise more than what you asked for”. Provost was one the Keynote speakers I had, the president of HPD, the president of the Harris County Mental Health & Mental Retardation, Dr. David Calendar from UTMB was also a speaker. It was an outstanding event, and when I got off the stage that night, I had .7 million dollars raised, the largest fundraiser for a single night in the city of Houston. • • • On the second floor and throughout the dealership, there are humanitarian awards and plaques representing the many philanthropic efforts Alan Helfman has been a part of over the years; and thankfully, he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Now he can add one more award to that Hall of Fame – The LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from The BLUES Police Magazine. Special thanks to IF Magazine for permission to reprint their interview with Alan. 50 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 51
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