Mitsubishi supports team Record the Journey for 2019 Rebelle Rally

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is supporting Team Record the Journey, a non-profit-based entry in the 2019 Rebelle Rally. The Rebelle Rally is the first all-women's off-road navigation rally raid in the U.S.A and the longest competition of its kind in the lower 48 states.

Record the Journey charity founder and team navigator Rachael Ridenour, a U.S.A Army combat veteran with 31 years of service, will pair up with driver Karah Behrend, a seven-year U.S.A Air Force veteran who had to medically retire after losing the use of her lower extremities and parts of her hands to a degenerative neurological disease.

Behrend is the first disabled athlete to compete in the Rebelle when she and Ridenour take the start in Lake Tahoe, California, with Behrend behind the wheel of a minimally modified 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross equipped with hand-controls.

The partnership marks the first step for MMNA's new corporate social responsibility initiative, known as 'Small Batch - Big Impact,' under which the company and its dealer partners plan to redefine the term 'CUV' to mean 'Community Utility Vehicle'.

The CUV program will create a series of vehicle loans to small non-profits and start-up social benefit corporations to help support their local communities.

Following the conclusion of the Rebelle, Record the Journey plans to use the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross - nicknamed 'Rosie the Riveter' by Rachael and Karah - as a support vehicle for charity programming with other veterans and their families as well as various promotional activities.

The 2019 Rebelle Rally runs from 10 to 19 October 2019, covering 2,000km of wild, beautiful and remote terrain from Lake Tahoe to San Diego, using a map and compass as the only means of navigation. The event concludes with a public awards ceremony on San Diego's Broadway Pier, followed by a private gala at Coasterra restaurant.