Martha's Vineyard Reaches Sales Goal for Specialty Plate

Martha’s Vineyard Reaches Sales Goal for Specialty Plate

COURTESY OF MVLICENSEPLATE.COM

MARTHA’S VINEYARD – Motorists will soon be seeing Martha’s Vineyard specialty license plates on the roadways.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has sold 850 plates with proceeds benefiting the organizations programs including mental health, child care and domestic violence services. Other island non-profits that service youth and the elderly will receive 20 percent of the funds.

The state required 750 plates to be sold before production could begin.

The plates that have been purchased are expected to be produced and shipped out within six to eight months, according to Mary Korba, the communication and web content manager for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.

“Once they are on the road people will see them and will just further get people more interested and get more sign ups with the ultimate goal of reaching 3,000 plates by the year 2020,” Korba said.

Reaching the goal of 3,000 plates would result in about $120,000 annually for programs on the Vineyard.

“Once we reach the 3,000, the sky is the limit from there,” Korba said.

The plate features a simplistic rendering a steamship against a blue background.

“We had a design contest way back when we first launched the campaign and had a lot of really talented artists submit their artwork,” Korba said.

The winning artwork was designed by Gwyn McAllister, a Martha’s Vineyard writer, who described the steamship as an icon image for the island.

“It’s really the one way you can get here other than plane,” Korba said. “So people associate the island with the steamship.”

Korba said people really seem to like the plate’s design.

Residents can purchase a Martha’s Vineyard specialty plate at mvlicenseplate.com through February 19. The application process will then be transferred to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Korba said if those interested would like a plate sooner than later, or by the end of the summer, they should purchase a plate before February 19.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter