Pillars of South Florida community, Case family continues to give back

DAVIE, Fla. – Rick and Rita Case have been keeping South Florida moving for decades, and they have also helped many children along the way.

With 16 car dealerships and 21 franchises, they're a household name known across South Florida. 

It's been 57 years since Rick Case started his first dealership, and nearly 40 years since the couple were married. 

"Our goal is to be the last dealership standing," he said. 

For those not familiar with the Case family from buying one of their cars, many have been touched by their charity work. 

"Every dealer can give money, and that's easy, but giving time, that's the hardest, and that's what we find is the most rewarding for us," Rick said. 

The Rick Case Bikes for Kids program has been going on for 38 years. It is what started the couple's path to philanthropy and has provided more than 100,000 bikes for kids during the holidays 

"Every Christmas, we see kids come in and wishing they could get a bike and we knew they couldn't afford one so we wanted to come up with a way that did that, and we started with giving bikes ourselves and then we had the whole community join in with us," Rick explained. 

The Cases have started over 14 different events and have raised over $50 million for charities across South Florida. They've done it with two of the most important people in their lives, their children- Raquel and Ryan. 

"I had the opportunity at a young age to see their work and to be involved and see the opportunity that we have to help," Ryan said. 

"It's not just the philanthropy that we are so proud of them, it's what they have created in the automotive industries," added Raquel. "They are literally pillars."

Raquel and Ryan not only had a passenger-side seat to their parents booming business, they're a part of it too. 

"He's the numbers guy and parts and services, and I'm the marketing and sales side," Raquel said. 

So what lies ahead for the family of car dealers?

"They have created an amazing foundation for us to grow the company, so that when they are ready to retire, which I don't know when that will be, which is fine because we are happy with what we are doing," said Raquel. 

If you're wondering when that might happen, don't count on it in the near future. 

"We are not ready to retire any time soon, that's an absolute for sure," Rita said. "We are paving the way for our children to take over the business when the time is right for them, and the time is right for us."


About the Author:

Nicole Perez is the the primary co-anchor of Local 10 News at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. She first joined Local 10 in July 2016 as the morning traffic reporter.