Wellesely, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/14/2010 -- Good News Garage (GNG), a program of Lutheran Social Services (LSS), recently awarded a 2008 Chevy Impala to 10 New England families. The gift of the 10 vehicles was made possible by Rick Hendrick of NASCAR fame, owner of Hendrickcars.com, who presented the vehicles to Good News Garage on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last May. The presentation occurred during a segment featuring the Lutheran agency’s car donation program and its founding director, Hal Colston.
The process of selecting the Impala recipients began in June 2009 and culminated with the presentation of the cars to the ecstatic families just in time for the Christmas season. Hundreds of applications were received from deserving families across New England. Each state assembled a selection committee comprised of prominent community members and friends of LSS to review the applications and make their decisions based on need, budget, family situation and other criteria.
The 10 recipients come from five New England states (Maine being the exception) and a variety of backgrounds and challenging circumstances. The one thing the 10 families have in common is their struggle to provide for their families, a problem exacerbated by their lack of affordable and reliable transportation. The recipients will use this gift of wheels to access employment, get their children to daycare, medical appointments and a range of educational, social, cultural and recreational activities and opportunities.
Meet the deserving families who received 2008 Chevy Impalas from LSS Good News Garage:
Traci and Paul of Vermont have two school-aged children. Last year Paul was diagnosed with cancer making him unable to work. His inability to work led to the unfortunate loss of their construction business, home and family car. Traci is now employed at Pizzagalli Construction. The family will use the car to get to work, school and medical appointments.
Kate of Vermont is a single mother of two boys, aged 5 years and 1 year. She works full-time for Express and part-time for Price Chopper. She has earned an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice and is pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Forensic Psychology. The vehicle will help Kate care for her two young children, get to work and continue her education.
Nancy of New Hampshire is the mother of three. In addition, she has guardianship of her two-year old grandson. Nancy works full-time at Dunkin Donuts and does not own a working vehicle. She walks to and from work; however daycare is over 10 miles away. She writes: “Without a car to get my grandson to daycare, I will lose my daycare spot. Without daycare I will lose my job.”
Kim of Portsmouth, New Hampshire is the single mother of a 14 year-old son with severe autism and cerebral palsy. Her son resides in a care facility in Tilton and she drives back and forth on weekends to bring him home. Her 1999 Ford Taurus required significant repairs and had become too costly to maintain. Kim works full-time for a nonprofit agency, transporting clients. She hopes to return to school to pursue a degree in nursing.
Lacey and Angel of Connecticut have four school-aged children. The family had fallen on difficult economic times when Angel, the primary wage earner for the family of six, was diagnosed with a chronic illness, at times impacting his ability to work. To help secure a more stable financial future for the family, Lacey is now going to school to become a surgical technician. The family is looking forward to once again becoming involved in community and school activities.
Tangie of Connecticut is a single mother of two boys, ages 8 years and 3 months. She is employed full-time as a retention specialist, where she works with state and federal ex-offenders working to get back on their feet. Tangie’s job requires her to travel to visit clients located at multiple sites, which is a challenge without safe and reliable transportation.
Janette of Rhode Island works full-time as a discrimination investigator for Providence Human Relations as well as in the evenings as a housing advocate, where she assists homeless single-parent families to move into permanent subsidized housing. Janette, the single mother of a college-aged daughter has sacrificed car ownership in order to pay her daughter’s. Janette frequently utilizes public transportation to commute to work, which is often inconvenient given her many commitments and evening job.
Tony of Massachusetts, along with his wife have three young children ages five, three and six months. He is employed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lacking a family vehicle was a hardship on Tony and his family. In addition to relying on both a bus and train to get to work, the family often borrowed their pastor’s vehicle on weekends to get to the market for groceries. In addition to using the vehicle to commute to work, Tony will use the Impala to get to Newbury College where he is enrolled as a student in the School of Business and Management.
Khem and Tika arrived in Vermont from Bhutan where they lived for many years in a refugee camp. They work as interpreters contracted by various community organizations. Until receiving the 2008 Chevrolet Impala both had to rely on public transportation which limited the amount of work they could take. Khem and Tika are clients of NeighborKeepers, Hal Colston’s newest nonprofit endeavor. In keeping with NeighborKeepers’ practices they have signed a reciprocity agreement to give back 170 hours to the NeighborKeepers community over the next two years by providing rides to other community members, helping to prepare community dinners, and providing interpreting services at our Tuesday night Community Leadership Meeting when needed.
Annie of Vermont has served as an AmeriCorps VISTA for two years. Her first year was at the Burlington TimeBank and the second year her time was split between being the Community Economic Development Office VISTA Team Leader and serving at NeighborKeepers as the Volunteer Coordinator. Anne is now the program coordinator for NeighborKeepers. She will be using this car to provide transportation for members of NeighborKeepers who do not have a car and wish to attend their supportive dinners.
Good News Garage accepts, repairs and awards donated vehicles to families in need. Since 1996, Good News Garage has awarded more than 3,300 vehicles to families throughout New England.
For more information about Good News Garage or to donate a vehicle, please visit http://www.GoodNewsGarage.org or call 1.877.GIVE AUTO (448.3288).