We think it’s about time you knew some ‘behind-the-scenes’ information about how our agents’ involvement makes a difference for you, our donors!

Donate A Car operates by connecting with agents (towing companies, salvage yards, auction houses) across the country. They share our vision and process.  We invite them to participate in the joy of facilitating donations to charities nationwide. Then, when you submit your vehicle for donation, we assign it to one of those agents. They pick up or auction it on your behalf — for free!

Recently one of our family-run salvage yards participated in what turned out to be a really cool experience. And not just for them! For them, for our donor, and for our Donate A Car team. Oh! And for the charity the donor selected (in this case, the MS Society)!

Wheelin’ in a Unique Donation for the MS Society!

Talk about an interesting scenario! A Calgary woman offered her used electric wheelchair as a donation to the MS Society. At first we were unsure if we could help her with it. Although it had wheels, it wasn’t really considered a ‘vehicle’! A Calgary agent agreed to take it but then suggested it go to their sister site in Edmonton. The had a hunch that the Edmonton locale’s style of auction would get a better donation result. They then generously offered to transport the chair from Calgary to Edmonton at no charge.

In the big scheme of things, we would never have guessed what that wheelchair would bring at auction because we’ve never had the opportunity to do this before. I don’t know that any of us anticipated that it would generate almost $600.00 in a charitable amount being given to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Woot!

What we didn’t know at the time was that the owner of the company was all over that sale. The gentleman who bought the used wheelchair is a regular attender at the Edmonton auction site. He requires the use of a wheelchair. When the compassionate auction owner discovered it was one of his ‘regulars’ who’d purchased the wheelchair he said, “I wouldn’t hear of him paying for that chair so I just went ahead and covered the cost for him. ‘Just paid for it!”

These are the moments we know we’re in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people!

Thank you to all of our agent who, daily, make a difference on behalf of donors and charities alike! The MS Society and thousands (Yes – actual thousands!) more. You’ve got a lot of heart!

The post Our Agents Have Heart: MS Society Receives Unique Gift appeared first on Donate A Car.

Would you act to right a wrong?

When Cheryl donated her SUV in March of 2012, she intended to serve and support her area animal shelter. Her simple wish grew into so much more!

Oxford University Press asks, “Would you act to right a wrong?”

Thanks to her practical compassion and written feedback, her donated Toyota Rav4 will inspire young people! They will be challenged  to think beyond themselves, and to find unique ways to contribute to their communities. How? Early in March of this year we received a special request from the creative folks at Oxford University Press. They asked if they could use Cheryl’s testimonial. They plan to use her  experience and example as a challenge to Canadian high school students, posing the question, “Would you act to right a wrong?” They will do this on their student access Civics and Citizenship website.

What Cheryl had to say

I wanted to get a smaller car and didn’t want to go through the hassle of going to a car dealership and having a salesman offer next to nothing for my RAV. When I read about donating a car I was interested, and when I saw I could select the charity, I was excited to see Animal Rescue Foundation on the list.

This charity is near and dear to my heart. I am always appalled by the number of homeless animals, and have 2 barn cats from a rescue society as well as 3 more that have found their way to my place. I suspect that at least 2 young kittens were just ‘dropped off’ in my area.

Fortunately I have room for these cats, but many people don’t, so organizations such as ARF are invaluable in caring for these animals until a home can be found. Thank you to all of you at Animal Rescue Foundation for all you do to help. I am pleased that I was able to help by donating my vehicle, and hope others will consider doing the same. ~ Cheryl ~

Simply a Canadian way of being

We see this kind of effort in acting to “right a wrong” played out in spectacularly generous ways every day! Last summer a car was donated through an East Coast recycler who, we later learned, works hard to support his area women’s shelter. Our donor gifted the car to benefit a national charity. But it went on to do something truly amazing! Our agent sent payment for the car so that we could send it to the donor’s charity of choice. Then? He generously gave the car to a woman from the area shelter! A double donation!

Recently we posted about one of our recycling agents who was compelled to give a donated wheel chair to a customer who needed just such a thing! The donor was able to gift their own charity of choice. Then, thanks to the goodness of our agent, the chair benefitted a second person. Another double donation!

Cheryl’s vehicle raised a donation of $2100.00 – that goes a long way to right a wrong!

Those are just a few examples! One of the very best parts of what we do: gifts that give in multiple ways.

Thanks to donors like Cheryl, and unexpectedly wonderful opportunities like the one being presented by Oxford University Press, the gift of one vehicle can result in the impact of kindness, generosity, support, and action over and over again!

The impact of your gift of a donated vehicle is worth so much more than just dollars and cents!

The post Civics 101: Would You Act to Right a Wrong? appeared first on Donate A Car.