By Brandi Makuski

Dave Suchon has a habit of giving back to the community. 

The owner of Dave’s Body Shop first met Sister Leone Jusozczyk in 1988 when she came to him for a car repair. The two hit it off, and since then, anytime Jusozczyk — a resident of the downtown Hi Rise — needs something, she calls Suchon for help.

“When used to go to all the insurance companies in the area and give them nice cheese trays every Christmas,” Suchon said. “She [Jusozczyk] came to me and said, ‘These people [at the Hi Rise] need that more than they do.’ This food won’t go far, but some of these people only got two, three hundred [dollars] to live on.”

Suchon said he donates food to the Hi Rise, which houses elderly and disabled residents of the city, three times a year, typically around July 4, once at Christmas and again each spring. On March 21, he donated about $640 worth of food for the building’s 72 residents.

“Oh, he’s such a good boy,” said Jusozczyk. “Anytime I need something he always shows up.”

Suchon regularly donates to good causes in the community, and typically without much fanfare. One summer he and his wife Donna observed kids playing in the downtown water fountain and, noting how much fun the kids were having, decided to pay the city’s monthly water bill. The couple also regularly donate new bicycles to needy schoolchildren, and was recognized in 2013 for his generosity.

Suchon said his good fortune in business is the main reason he gives back to the community.

“It’s the giving part- don’t worry about if people give you thanks, the Lord will give you thanks in the end,” Suchon said. “I have a very good business, I’ve been debt free since ’98, so when she (Jusozczyk) calls me up, I come running.”