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One of our donors has made an enormous impact on behalf of their local food bank service!
The vision of your local food bank is to see a Canada where no one goes hungry. They work to relieve and prevent hunger every day, from coast to coast, and they will capably stretch every donation dollar that they receive!
Continue reading "Food Bank Donor Fills the Shelves" →Smart technology in a 1986 Buick Riviera? We were as surprised as you are!
Continue reading "Buick Riviera" →Offering our wildlife sanctuary is a core Canadian value. Of our nearing 1,000 Canadian charities, dozens are animal care organizations. Donate a Car Canada donors often put their donation dollars toward these causes.
Continue reading "Wildlife Sanctuary" →We've extended Betsy's legacy on behalf of Epilepsy Canada this month!
Who is Betsy? She's a trusty 2004 Mercedes C240. Our donors rolled into the program mid-August, ready to part ways with their sturdy car.
Continue reading "Epilepsy Canada" →
The VW Beetle offered its final edition in 2019. Punch buggy aficionados find unique ways to honor this beloved icon. One of our previous donors, C. McDonald of Calgary, Alberta, put a little extra into his current car, a 1.6 Turbo, 2017 slug bug.
Mr. McDonald's original purchase was a forest green -- interior and exterior. His first addition to the car (his second VW Beetle) was two 12" subwoofers. Soon to follow: 18" gold rims.
He quickly began dreaming up a paint job for his prized find. The paint job plans soon morphed into saving up for a vinyl wrap -- front to back!
Considering many options (including a galaxy-spangled frunk -- you know: the front-trunk), the owner settled on a
3m gloss deep space purple and hexis gloss and super chrome gold highlights. The gold highlights to some interior surfaces complement the earlier addition of the rims.
This wrap has a surreal effect! Is the car blue? Purple? Bronze? Copper? Green? Depending on the position of the sun, the quality of light, and your perspective, the color changes continuously.
This work of art was no small effort. Riley, of ZR Auto in Calgary, Alberta took personal pride in the work and attention to detailed quality. Accustomed to working on high-end vehicles, Riley worked his skills to beautiful effect. The result? Mr. McDonald's punch buggy is a crowd stopper. It's not unusual for this VW Beetle to stop passersby mid-step. Smart phones at the ready, its a sure thing that there are a lot of pics of this shifty little slug bug all over cyberspace.
If you're in the Calgary area and looking for a unique addition to your ongoing game of Punch Buggy!, keep your eyes wide open for this 2017 purple...no, blue...make that copper VW Beetle!
Did you ever imagine you’d find yourself contemplating home schooling your kiddos? With only 1 – 2% of North American children home schooled in the BeforeTimes, this option may not have been high on your priority list.
And here we are. 2020 and in the midst of a pandemic. “Do I send my child back to school?” has become the most pressing decision of the summer.
What arises in you when you face into this question with your family?
And do you have a process for discerning a way forward when emotions are high, information is confusing and even conflicting, and all you really wish for is a set routine? Something that feels normal. Familiar. Do you find that your thoughts run away with the what-if-s and how-to-s and I-can't-even-s of the thing?
You've read all of the information. You understand your options clearly. What now? Are you connecting with other parents? Are your children old enough to participate in this conversation? What is your own gut telling you (she probably knows what you need!)?
If you need some internal back-up from your own best teacher -- your self -- this may help:
Most importantly, remind yourself often that a year of disrupted schooling is not going to make or break your child's education.
I recall a time in the parenting and schooling of my own three sons where I was gripped by anxiety. Overwhelm. Uncertainty for the future. It was an important time of reflection: I was able to ask myself the question,
What really matters in my sons' education? What will matter in one year? 5 years? In their adulthood? I was surprised to notice that the thing that surfaced as "most important" was not a university degree. Rather, I wondered if I was doing all I could to nurture boys into men who would be capable, helpful, content, hard workers, good humans. The kind of men who could navigate something as crazily disruptive as a global pandemic.
Schooling was disrupted in our lives for a bit back then. They're all in their twenties, now, and (having achieved different levels of school along the way...via many non-traditional and traditional paths) they're solid humans. Capable. Helpful and hard working and funny. The kind of men who handle global pandemics with presence of mind.
What if there's no wrong way to educate your children during the pandemic? Could it be that the answer to, "Should I send my kids back to school?" is...go for it! Or, don't. Whatever you decide, don't make yourself wrong. You're doing the best you can and they're going to be just fine.
Autism Calgary Association has a Donate a Car Canada gift! Our donors have richly personal reasons for selecting a receiving charity. Health-related organizations hit the top of the list. The choice may be all about the care of the planet, or of animals. Morever, charities are picked for sentimental reasons.
The owners of a recycle-ready 2007 Dodge Caravan chose Autism Calgary Association for heartfelt reasons.
Our donors noted,
"This vehicle has enormous sentimental value to our son, who has autism. He has named the Van Zoomy. Zoomy was last driven 6 years ago and needed major work at that time,We have held onto Zoomy until our son was ready to let go. He's ready and has chosen to donate Zoomy to Autism Calgary."
These kinds of stories are exactly why Donate a Car Canada does what we do! Not only do our donor matter, their vehicle matters. And the charity of choice is vital to the giver.
For charities like Autism Calgary Association, a donation like this is critical to their ongoing work. Furthermore, the beauty of a gift like this is that it allows the giver to feel sure their beloved vehicle is more than just scrap metal. Zoomys, all across Canada, continue to serve by turning wheels and metal into much-needed dollars.
Consider the causes that are meaningful to you. You've likely experienced, for yourself, the value of every donation dollar. Hearts and minds are impacted. In addition, the machine of the operations is kept up and running.
Visit the Autism Calgary Association YouTube channel for challenge and inspiration.
Not all cars and trucks have sentimental value to us. Frankly, sometimes we just want the ol' scrap metal hauled out of the back yard! In extreme cases, we don't even care what happens to what feels like a heap of junk. But sometimes we do care. A lot. We care because the car was the last vehicle that our aging loved one used before they gave up driving. Or, it may be the last car we're going to use before we surrender that freedom for ourselves. Equally common, the car or truck may be our learner vehicle -- or the one we used to teach our kids to drive. Whatever your story (or lack of story!), we're here to help you turn your donation ready unit into monies for the cause you love.
The best charities to support during the ebb and flow of Coronavirus ripple effects are in sight. Savvy Canadian donors do their research. They are careful in selecting who they donate to. We want our charities to run efficiently. Well managed with modest, defensible overhead is a must. Moreover, a charity should touch into our lives personally.
Your decision to donate your vehicle has come with thought and care. Choosing the charity that will receive the monies from that effort poses a unique challenge.
This is an easy decision for some: we give from the heart to the causes that make our hearts leap! Where the money goes is top-of-mind for others. Above all, give where there will be the best bang for our giving buck.
Maclean's ezine article, "Coronavirus: Where to donate and how to help Canada's most vulnerable," offers concise and valuable direction. If you're looking to donate specifically to needs arising from the pandemic, this article will help!
Many of the charities noted in on their break-out lists are charities that we work to support daily. Note the Canadian Mental Health Association, The Salvation Army, and Food Banks Canada. These are on the short-list for monetary donation. Further, SOS Children's Villages and Kids Help Phone are high on the list.
Concerned for the personal safety of women and children in violent domestic situations, consider donating. The Canadian Women's Foundation, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, and your own local shelter need you.
Similarly, we have seen how aggressively COVID-19 has impacted our Canadian seniors. The Alzheimer Society in your province needs your giving dollars now.
As you'll see in the Maclean's article, these quick acknowledgments skim the surface. We should state that impact has rippled to all sectors of our society. Consider gifting indigenous causes, or, turn your attention toward those with special needs. 'Just plum tuckered out thinking about your fellow human? Why not consider a gift to any of our animal charities? It will be welcome!
Wisdom is never violent: where wisdom reigns there is no conflict between thinking and feeling.
Carl Jung
Global events demand the attention of each one of us. We have strong opinions. Such firm beliefs. Furthermore, we are right! I am right. You are right. We have reasons that are good enough for us - every one of us - that to refuse to adapt, or change, or grow.
Good enough reasons to protest. Reasons that are strong enough that we won't protest. Ideologies and understandings that demand attention. It is so very important that I be right.
For this reason, and a thousand others, we squabble with and shame and harm one another. And we each claim wisdom in the moment of heated action or argument. Equally, we argue understanding through inaction and passivity.
Thomas Merton says that compassion is the acceptance of the interconnectedness of all things. So , the state of my heart is reflected in the condition of the world. This may be for peace, or for strife. It could be for goodness, or for greed. Perhaps it will be for love, but it could just as easily be for judgement.
In a wildly disrupted time (pandemic, human rights upheaval, economic disparity, and so on and on!), we have actual control over very little. Really? We have control over one thing: our Self. Who we will be. How we will be. What if your way of being has a ripple effect? What might you determine that effect to be?
For today, we here at Donate a Car Canada will continue to hold to our intention of providing exceptional donor and charity care in a wobbly world. Hands steady-at-the-scrap-car-wheel. Aiming for wisdom and compassion. And this despite our (considerable) differences of thought, belief, and certitude! We're all in this together.
Good customer service is the go-to for Canadian business.
How does that land with you? 'Too strong a statement? Maybe you have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the service industry. Or, if you're a lucky gal like me, you encounter good to exceptional service everywhere you go.
We are in unprecedented times (I believe that's the new buzz word? And an apt one it is!). Every service we attempt to access is embroiled in a new business normal. If you're deemed essential, you're working like a drone. 'Probably for less pay. Furthermore, you're punching in hours and rolling out results just as quickly as you can type, haul, drive, teach, ring-up, or cheerily choke out one more, "Good afternoon! How may I help you today?"
Like you, I've spent more time on hold in the past few weeks than I'd spent in the past several years combined. So many hours spent (musac pulsing in my offended ears) waiting for my essential server to assist. And assist they have. Every time. Knowledgeably, kindly, and efficiently...if a bit wearily.
In most recent days, I've had the chance to be the one offering a service on that same phone. I'm the one you've grown to dread: the telemarketer! Well, not exactly. I'm not selling anything at all. But I have been cold-calling area mechanics to let them know we're here to help. We can haul junkers from their properties quick-as-quick, and for free. Regardless of what's on offer, cold-calling is not always equated with good customer service!
In reaching out to hundreds of Calgary businesses I've noticed some stand-out responses. Good customer service begins with that first "Hello! *insert company name here*, Bill speaking..." A gal can tell right off the hop if she's encountered a professional. I hear the layers of busy, work-weary, bored, and disinterested. Moreover, I know if you're placating me, or if you care about me as a caller.
A hang-up, "Click!" is rarely the answer to my offer of free tow support on behalf of our 900+ Canadian charities. "I don't have time for this!" is an occasional, frazzled response. But most often, in this deliciously polite country of ours, those busy mechanics hear me out. They ask questions. They express interest in receiving information for their customers (because what we provide their business will only help the people they serve every day).
In Calgary, two companies stand out as offering extraordinary care over the phone. These shops are clearly busy, but their calls are answered with patience, curiosity, and genuine interest. Who are these staff-who-made-my-job-a-joy? Auto Pro (you name the location, they're wonderful!), and OK Tire. OK Tire, particularly, made a mundane task feel like a purposeful and important gig.
While we can't speak to their car repair services, I know with certainty that they have good customer service on offer at the switchboard. That's no small thing in strangely tired and stressed-out times.
'Interested in taking advantage of our free tow support for yourself? Check us out...
