Some fans wanting a state-issued Elvis Presley
license plate are getting a free ride thanks to
an anonymous donor in New Jersey who covered the
$35 specialty fee. The state requires 1,000
people to pre-order and pay the fees for new
specialty license plates before production
begins. If a plate fails to garner the needed
pre-order amount by a certain date, it will not
be produced. The Elvis plate, which benefits the
Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Centre at the
Regional Medical Centre at Memphis, was about
100 buyers shy of meeting the benchmark, even
after receiving an extension on its deadline.
The New Jersey fan anonymously donated the
$3,500 needed to cover the final 100 pre-ordered
plates after hearing about the car tag's
troubles on Sirius satellite radio's Elvis
program hosted by long-time Presley friend
George Klein. Tammie Ritchey, executive director
of the hospital's foundation, The Med
Foundation, said Wednesday the donor wanted to
express her love of Presley through the kind of
charitable donation the rocker was known for in
his lifetime. Of the $35 specialty fee, The Med
receives roughly $20 for each plate sold.
Source: Washington Post
Posted: 20th. July 2007