Thanks to Nissen Ford and several community members, teachers, parents and students, West Albany High School raised nearly $3,000 Tuesday for its band program.

The afternoon saw 149 drivers arrive at the school to test drive one of nine cars made available by Nissen: a Fusion, Escape, Focus, Flex, Taurus, F-150, Explorer and two Edges. West Albany gets $20 for each test drive, pending approval by Ford, so the band program is looking at $2,980 based on preliminary numbers.

Troy Williams, service manager at Nissen Ford, was the lead person on the fundraiser. He received an email about the program and instantly started the process to get West Albany High School signed up.

"The ink hadn't dried on the paper after I hit print before I started making calls," Williams said. Williams is also a parent of freshman band student Jacob Williams. "I know how hard it is for fundraising."

Band director Stuart Welsh was excited about the fundraiser.

"We heard about this through Troy," he said. "He contacted me and knew that we were in the middle of a huge fundraising campaign."

Anybody 18 and over was eligible to test drive a car. The route was about a block long and went around the high school.

Parent Sandra Carrasco took the Ford Focus for a spin.

"I am not looking to buy a car," she said. "But I am here to support a wonderful way to help these kids out with the band program."

James Franklin, a senior at West Albany and a percussionist, test-drove the Ford Edge.

"It went well," he said. "It's great they are supporting the schools. It puts out a good image for them."

Library media specialist Dan Lawson tried out the F-150.

"I wanted to come out here and do this because Stuart Welsh is the man," he said. "I absolutely encourage this program."

This is the first time Ford has done a fundraiser like this in Oregon. The company generally allows up to 300 test drives, or $6,000, at each event.

The money raised from this event and other fundraising efforts will go to pay off uniforms and instruments that were purchased last year.

"I want to thank Nissen Ford and Troy for getting us involved in this," Welsh said.