Two Detroit-based businesses will be grateful for the large donation.
According to the calendar, spring has finally arrived in Southeast Michigan. Ford must have caught the cleaning bug. Two pallets of leather hides, worth more than $100,000, were discovered by Ford in its product development center. The company is now cleaning them out to prepare for the new campus. Ford didn’t want this leather to go to waste so it donated it to two Detroit-based businesses.
Pingree Detroit has taken the hides to Mend on the Move. Pingree, a worker-owned company, employs veterans from the Detroit area and teaches them skills. In 2015, the company began making wallets and boots from reclaimed leather that was salvaged from the auto industry. Mend on the Move employs women who have been abused in the Metro Detroit region. These women create jewelry and other leather products.
Ford Fund, the automaker’s philanthropic arm discovered these two businesses. Ford used the leather hides to make interior prototypes for a variety of vehicles, including mainstream products such as the Ford Escape or Explorer, and premium models like the Ford F-150 King Ranch or Lincoln Navigator BLACK Label. Sometimes, designers will order extra leather hides to cover any mistakes or explore new ideas.