On May 17, a woman who strives to be the best possible mother to her daughter while also working to improve her housing and work situations received a beautifully refurbished vehicle from the National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recycled Rides program, car donor GEICO and repair partner Gerber Collision & Glass.
The presentation took place at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, in conjunction with the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK.
GEICO donated the 2019 Honda Civic, which was refurbished by the team at Gerber Collision & Glass in Naperville, IL, to Odessa Rodriguez, nominated by Family Promise of North Shore.
Rodriguez is building a stable life for herself and her school-age daughter. Currently living in a shelter, Rodriguez has worked with a case manager at Family Promise to set and meet goals, adopt life skills and advocate for her daughter and herself. The NABC Recycled Ride vehicle will relieve the constant pressure around getting her child to school and extracurricular activities, and getting herself to work. It will also facilitate Rodriguez’s search for an improved work opportunity.
Rodriguez not only received a beautiful vehicle, but got to see some great racing and experience the car presentation on the track in front of a grandstand full of race fans.
“This car will mean so much to me and my daughter,” said Rodriguez. “It will help me to get back and forth to work, and get her to school and to cheer practice. This is the biggest blessing in our lives so far and we are thankful to everyone who came together under the NABC Recycled Rides program to make this happen. We love you!”
GEICO, a Level One member of the NABC, is the largest donor of vehicles to NABC Recycled Rides, having provided more than 1,000 vehicles in the 18 years of the program.
Gerber Collision & Glass, also a Level One NABC member, was founded 88 years ago and has grown to be one of the largest auto collision and glass repair companies in the U.S. Gerber locations are all I-CAR Gold Certified collision repair centers.
“At Gerber Collision & Glass, we are super excited to be able to give back to people in our communities, and the partnership with the NABC has enabled us to exercise that opportunity, and give our associates the chance to contribute and help people in need in the local communities that they serve,” said Brian Kaner, president and CEO of Boyd Group, parent company of Gerber Collision & Glass. “It was great to be out here today at the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals to gift this vehicle to a very deserving person.”
Enterprise was also part of the presentation and made a significant contribution to help Rodriguez with gas and vehicle maintenance.
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 this presentation include LKQ, O'Reilly's Auto Parts, Chicago Wheel Service, PPG, Acorn Tire/Goodyear, Mobile Auto Solutions, Nexus Towing, Advanced Remarketing Services, Cars for Charity and Copart.
