On June 21, one deserving veteran and one Pennsylvania National Guard member were presented vehicles to provide them each their independence, thanks to the National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recycled Rides program along with car donor GEICO and collision repair partner Faulkner Collision Center of Lancaster, PA.
The vehicle presentation was part of NASCAR’s weekend at Pocono Raceway, and its salute to the U.S. military in Veterans Village before the start of the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 NASCAR Xfinity Series Race.
GEICO donated both vehicles. Faulkner Collision Center of Lancaster’s technicians fully refurbished the vehicles, and Enterprise provided a generous gift card to each recipient for gas and other vehicle expenses.
The recipients were Dylan Clark, U. S. Army and National Guard member, nominated by the Pennsylvania National Guard Family Readiness Program, and Roland Cooper, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, nominated by Valhalla Veterans Services.
Clark, who received a 2020 Hyundai Elantra, was deployed to Kuwait in 2020. He has been serving in the Pennsylvania National Guard since. He had a vehicle that required a major repair. Due to the age of the vehicle and cost of the repair, the vehicle was scrapped. Clark has been struggling to get transportation to medical appointments, drill weekends and employment, and to pick up his daughter for regular visits. Clark has found a new job and has the support of his unit to continue his progress both personally and professionally. A vehicle allows him to attend regular treatment appointments, travel to his new job, schedule regular visits with his daughter, and travel to his monthly drill weekends at Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA.
Clark was nominated by his chain of command for being a dedicated soldier who would benefit from a hand-up that reliable transportation can provide him.
“Thank you all for everything you have done to make this happen,” said Clark. “I can’t put into words how appreciative I am of the NABC and its partners and everyone in my unit who came here today to support me.”
Cooper, a Vietnam era veteran, received a 2020 Nissan Maxima SL. Cooper recently lost his car because it needed more than $5,000 in repairs. Living in a rural area with no public transportation creates an extreme hardship on Cooper to get to medical appointments and daily tasks and errands. He also actively volunteers, assisting people in his community and walks a quarter of a mile each way to attend weekly meetings.
“It's just incredible,” said Cooper. “I’m just so appreciative of what you all do for veterans.”
“Faulkner Collision Center of Lancaster is honored to give back to our veterans and military members,” said April Lausch, collision center manager. “We strongly support the NABC in changing and saving lives in our local community.”
Faulkner Collision Centers are located in 10 cities in central and southeastern Pennsylvania and gift multiple vehicles each year to people in need in their community through the NABC Recycled Rides program. This is their third consecutive year refurbishing and gifting vehicles to veterans during the Pocono race weekend. All Faulkner repair centers are I-CAR Gold Certified.
GEICO is the largest donor of vehicles to NABC Recycled Rides, having provided more than 1,000 since the program started in 2007. GEICO is a Level One NABC Partner.
NABC Recycled Rides is a unique program in which businesses representing all facets of the collision repair industry team up to repair and donate vehicles to individuals and families in need of reliable transportation. Since the inception of the program in 2007, members of the NABC have donated more than 3,500 vehicles valued at some $51 million.
Additional partners in the presentation include Faulkner Hyundai, Faulkner Nissan, NAPA Auto Parts Lancaster, LKQ, Advanced Remarketing Services, Cars for Charity, Copart and Enterprise.
