A look back at a 2015 vehicle donation adventure!

When Addison Asuchak called in to Donate a Car Canada with an offer to donate his 2001 VW Jetta on behalf of KidSport Canada, we had no idea that we were about to be part of a generous adventure!

Addison is living a big and adventurous life! He travels wide, plays hard, and dreams so big. His generosity of spirit touches everything he does, and in an effort to support a charity that he cares about, he called us to get information on how to go about donating his faithful Jetta on behalf of KidSport Canada.

When a vehicle is donated through Donate a Car Canada (for ANY Canadian charity) we keep things simple. We re-sell, or recycle. Each vehicle is assessed on its own merit. So, we assumed Addison hoped to simply go through that process with his  drivable, good lookin’ VW. So, we provided him the details of our program and offered him  our donation options.

That’s when this KidSport donation took a turn

Addison, with a humorous catch in his voice, asked,

“So,  what if the car were in a slightly different condition than what I’ve  described? Like, what  if it had been hit a few times…with a sledge hammer?”

In a spontaneous effort to support KidSport Canada, Addison had thrown out a massive Facebook appeal. He told his vast network of university and personal connections that with the gift of a donation to the charity, anyone could come and take a swing at his beautiful Jetta – with a sledge hammer! Within a matter of hours he had a typically Canadian response: people were interested! Demolition +  generosity = the perfect January afternoon distraction!

Several hundred people showed up, donations in hand. Addison provided the sledgehammer and the car, and in no time at all $600.00 was raised for KidSport Canada!

Addison’s Volvo had a double impact on behalf of KidSport: it drew the attention and generosity of sledge hammer –wielding

donors at the university, and it garnered the monetary donation that comes with a vehicle recycled through our program here. Addison is a man with energy and courage. We know his generous effort on behalf of KidSport is one small part of his big life. We were thrilled to be a part of it!

Inspired to follow Addison’s lead?

You may not be in the company of dozens of sledge hammer-wielding buddies. But you can still make a tremendous impact with your own vehicle donation. Runnin’ or rusty, every vehicle counts. And every Canadian charity is at-the-ready to receive your gift.

We take care of all of the donation details for the charity. From donation form to tax receipt — and everything in between — we keep it simple. As the donor, it will take just a few minutes to fill in your online form. You will receive emails that keep you apprised of each step of the re-sale or recycling process. Finally, you will receive your tax receipt from your charity of choice via your inbox.

We can’t wait for your own vehicle donation story to unfold!

The post A Jetta, a Sledge Hammer, and KidSport Canada appeared first on Donate A Car.

Today’s sports news champions Canadian athletes

Have you seen what’s happening in sports this week? From lacrosse to volleyball and golf to hockey, Canadian athletes are the stuff of pure inspiration! The Canada Summer Games have just wrapped up. What a showing! There are milestone moments in so many of our sports this week!

Years of hard work and singular focus make what these athletes do look so easy! Especially from where I sit on my comfy couch! I find myself wondering about what sorts of things they gave up to achieve such feats of endurance. What opportunities presented themselves? Did they always know that the sport they now excel in was their destiny? Does it have anything to do with destiny?

A lot of skill — some innate, some learned and honed. So much grit! And maybe even a little luck tossed in. Which is kind of where you come in…

Creating opportunity for athletes on the rise

Not every playing field is equal. What would it be like for you to be part of putting a bat, or ball, or pair of sneakers in the hands of a young athlete?

Consider what it might be like to lend a hand to athletes who are standing on podiums for Canada. Get curious about how you can assist in keeping talented, hard working Canadians on track doing what they do best. Check in with your local sports-related charities to see where you can get involved in supporting Canadian athletes!

You unwanted or unused vehicle can help!

Giving cool, hard cash is one way to help immediately and efficiently. Here at Donate a Car Canada, you can choose any Canadian charity for your donation! We have a long list of charities supporting Canadian athletes. ‘Have a car, truck, van, or SUV taking up space? Donate to one of these inspired works:

Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA)

Connected In Motion

KidSport Canada

Special Olympics in

Calgary

British Columbia Society

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Saskatchewan

Thunder Bay Therapeutic Riding Association

Wheelchair Basketball Canada

YMCA-YWCA of the National Capital Region

YWCA Calgary, Edmonton, or Regina

You don’t even need to get up off the couch!

Giving in this way is so easy! You can help your Canadian athletes and get yourself a free tow in the process. The donation form will take you less than 10 minutes. Your tow agent will give you a call to arrange pick-up timing that works well for you. Every detail is taken care of for you at no cost to you, or to the charity you love!

Your donated vehicle will be either recycled or re-sold (whichever means brings in the strongest donation for your cause). You will be kept in the loop every step of the process. Finally, you will receive a tax receipt for your donation!

Not quite ready to donate? Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! There you will get an overall feel for how we care for each other and our charities. This is a caring community, here to serve you.

We’re just one click away…

The post Cars for Canadian Athletes appeared first on Donate A Car.

Uvalde – Today’s reminder that we are all connected

Given the parameters of our work here at Donate a Car Canada, we have no wish to weigh in on the politics of anything. ‘Certainly not on the gut-wrenching Awful of the Uvalde school shooting. I saw a graph of what has been happening with school shootings in the the United States last night. It is confounding. Appalling. So many babies lost. So, I weep. And I get rage-y. But I also get curious about how to respond in ways that are just. Meaningful. Active. Right here in my own beautiful country.

In our little bubble of caring work here, we are so, so lucky! We see the scope of Good Work that Canadian charities lovingly engage in. We know that there are volunteers and paid workers toiling and serving and creating every day. They are applying themselves with so much heart to the very work that saves the lives of children. The people at the helm of our participating charities help make sense of the senseless.

The experience of suffering is something that connects us. Headline news (war, economic crisis, pandemic, and violent acts) is certainly a shared and collective trauma. And we each experience that suffering in our own ways.

One way to be with headlining tragedy

Do you ever feel a bit powerless in the face of heartbreaking news like that out of Uvalde? Or, do events like the Uvalde violence (or Buffalo’s just a hearbeat before that…not to mention the Ukraine), leave you with an angry energy that needs an outlet?

I understand those feelings, too. The rage and wish and empathy and indignation. Maybe you have robust ways of tending to those things in yourself? For myself, some rhythms of contemplation, mindfulness, and physical exercise help. Those practices can help with my own mental-emotional-spiritual health.

But sometimes we need to DO something. We need to help. Making some kind of contribution in a tangible way feels so important. Helping in practical ways seems to help our internal processing of impossibly big feelings about these kinds of circumstances.

I cannot help the grieving families in Uvalde. My reach for providing real assistance in the Ukraine is limited.

I can help here. At home. I can support teachers and care givers. My volunteerism and donating might aid distress lines or hand-up services for youth in crisis. By educating myself I can expand reach and understanding around issues of inclusion and equality. My practice of caring can chip away at barriers to mental health care and compassion for those who are chronically ill.

We can get involved

If you are doing your bit of good, and I am doing mine, will we build a healthier society? Overall? Or, at least, a gentler Canada? I’ll do my bit for empathy and dignifying inclusion. You do the same in the ways that feel alive and true for you. And soon, between you, me, and the people we love, might we find ourselves in a world where one child does not feel their only course of action is to take the lives of other little ones?

We are set up to partner with ANY Canadian charity. If you pop over to CanadaHelps and explore their charity list, you’ll find we can work on behalf of all of those charities, too!

Pick a cause. Perhaps, for today, it will be a cause that is shaping the lives of children and care givers and teens? Through music, sport, employment services, or distress care, we turn our attention to Canada’s unique needs and give there. In this way, might we bear witness to our connection to Uvalde?

We have so many children’s charities to choose from. If you would like to attend to your need to help by donating a car, here is a short list to get your creative giving juices flowing? Consider,

What happens when you donate a vehicle?

When you donate your car, truck, van, SUV, or motorcycle, the net proceeds go to your cause. You fill out a 5 minute online form. We arrange your free tow. Your charity receives the funds, and you get a tax receipt.

We know this won’t right terrible wrongs like the parade of awful we see in the headlines these days. But your giving does seed Goodness. Caring. A commitment to acting on empathy. And that is a kind of justice all its own. The kind that invites another such action, and then another, and then one more. And that’s where we’re at with this today: I’ll do what I can. You do what you’ve got it in you to do. We’ll take care of each other. One loving act at a time.

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