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Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue receives $1,000.00+ donation!
Continue reading "Kitten Rescue | VOKRA" →Tag: Donate a Car Canada
Donate My Motorcycle
Can I donate my motorcycle? Yes! And...no. This is a seasonal question for us here at Donate a Car Canada.
Continue reading "Donate My Motorcycle" →BMW Donor Feeds the ‘Bank
One of our BMW 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 "BMW Donor Feeds the ‘Bank" →Wildlife Sanctuary
Animal charities have heart
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" →VW Beetle | Punch Buggy…Purple?
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.
Transformation
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!
Out of this world
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.
Running with the big boys
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!
Should I Send my Kids Back to School?
Wondering, “Should I send my kids back to school?” 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. This question has become the most pressing decision of the summer.
Continue reading "Should I Send my Kids Back to School?" →Best Charities: Coronavirus
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 on who, what, why
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.
Canadians are all affected
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 in Troubled Times
Wisdom is never violent: where wisdom reigns there is no conflict between thinking and feeling.
Carl Jung
But, I'm right!
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.
Is that really all there is to it?
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
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.
Chilling on the 'phone
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!
Above the crowd
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.
Your free tow
'Interested in taking advantage of our free tow support for yourself? Check us out...
Peace in a Pandemic
Finding peace in a disrupted time is tough. For many of our receiving charities, that's they're work-a-day gig. They companion people in disrupted life circumstances.
What is peace, anyway?
The word peace may mean something different to you than it does to me. For some, peace is a feeling of calm, or the absence of conflict. Some people experience peace as the lack of any emotion at all. Others feel at peace when they have a sense of control in their lives.
I've come to identify peace as a quiet heart. Sometimes that means a feeling of spaciousness in my mind, heart, or even body. Another way of describing that is the ability to take a deep, deep breath -- a feeling of relaxation and permission even when circumstances are very difficult.
That seems to be an important thing about peace? It is a sense of rightness, quiet, or well-being even when things all around are wobbling. Maybe even downright awful.
Can I find calm...even now?
What has the COVID-19 Pandemic been like for you? Are you having difficult finding peace in the midst of global fear? There are resources near you that can give you a little back-up if that's what you need. Seek them out. Your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health are worth the effort.
You may be someone who has had a gentle experience of this unprecedented upheaval. If so, might you be one who offers peace to others? You may be one of the helpers. If so, thank you! Please take care of your Self while you're reaching out to others. And if you're having moments when a quiet heart is illusive, reach out for your own supports, ok? We need you to keep getting your own cup filled up so that you can continue to share with others.
What DACC is doing to help
Here at Donate a Car Canada we continue to work through this crisis time to aid Canadian charities in their ongoing work. Sometimes cool cash is the best way to bring calm into the midst of a storm. Part of our role in all of this is to keep right on processing vehicle donations. Those donations result in the much-needed dollars our charities depend on to keep purveying goodness in our hurting world. Thank you for considering how you might be a part of that!
