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 interest by a certain date, it will not be produced.
The Elvis plate, which benefits the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Regional Medical Center 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 longtime 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.
Tennessee has about 130 specialty license plates, with different groups receiving proceeds. The most popular salutes the Tennessee Titans football team, but there are others for Korean War veterans, the Smokies and the Tennessee Walking Horse.