For the City-Times

Pat’s CARSTAR of Plover donated a 2005 Kia Sedona minivan to Randi Greene and her family Monday, December 15, extending the business’s Recycled Rides tradition into its seventh year.

“Everybody here looks forward to this every year,” said Tony Kempen, who owns the auto body repair business with his wife Sharon. “Our crew and our partners appreciate how important reliable transportation is. We’re glad we were able to be a part of providing it for the Greene’s and are glad to welcome them to the CARSTAR family.”

Pat Arnold, Kempen’s uncle and former owner of Pat’s CARSTAR, took the lead this year in finding and repairing the vehicle for donation. Keystone Automotive and Schierl Tire also helped prepare the vehicle for donation this year. In addition to the minivan, Pat’s CARSTAR employees donated a gas card to the family.

To find a family in need of a vehicle, Pat’s CARSTAR partners with CAP Services, a local private, nonprofit organization, to identify the family. Ten families applied for the opportunity to get the vehicle – a subcommittee of CAP’s Board of Directors made the final selection.

Greene, Stevens Point, was notified in advance that she had been selected to receive the vehicle but kept the donation a secret from her 15-year-old son, Cole, and 6-year-old twins, Lola and Isaac, who speculated they might be heading to a pizza party before arriving at Pat’s CARSTAR.

“We are grateful to everyone who helped make this possible,” said Greene, noting that without safe and reliable transportation the everyday tasks of family life had become increasingly burdensome and time consuming. “The minivan is going to make a huge difference for us.”

Pat’s CARSTAR’s vehicle donation tradition began with the National Auto Body Council’s (NABC) Recycled Rides program. Recycled Rides, launched in 2007, is a nationwide awareness program where collision repair members of the NABC repair and donate used vehicles to families in need in their communities.

CAP Services is a private, nonprofit community action agency that has been helping low-income people attain economic and emotional self-sufficiency since 1966.