Mike’s Auto Body of Concord, Calif., announced that it gave away five refurbished vehicles to five needy families on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at its Antioch location. This was the second charitable donation of a vehicle by Mike’s in 2014, as the shop also gifted a Hyundai Sonata to a staff sergeant from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield and his family on Veteran’s Day.
A bonus at the Dec. 17 giveaway was the Mayor of Concord opening the presentation and the Contra Costa Fire Fighters Local 1230 donating brand-new bicycles and new helmets for all the children and grandchildren of the recipients. Last but not least was Santa Claus making an appearance.
“Each year, the collision repair industry as a whole comes across cars that are ‘written off’ by either the owner or the insurance company. Oftentimes, these are older vehicles that just need some mechanical and body work to get them back on the road and are perfectly safe to drive. Because we believe these cars are going to waste when there are people who really need them, we decided to do something about it,” the company stated.
Over the last 13 years, Mike’s Auto Body has presented a total of 46 cars to deserving families and non-profit organizations. This will be Mike’s Auto Body’s 14th year participating in Mike’s Auto Body’s Benevolence Program. Everything is donated, including the cars, parts, paint, mechanical inspections, tires and one year of insurance. The body and paint technicians donate their time and talents. CSAA Insurance Group, Mercury Insurance Group, State Farm, Safeco, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and GEICO participated this year by donating a written-off vehicle.
“We feel very fortunate to be involved with such a wonderful program and are very excited to be able to give back to the community that has supported us for the past 42 years,” Mike Rose said. “Repairing the vehicles is the easy part; having to decide on a recipient is the part that’s hard. After receiving hundreds of applications over the years and reading the heartbreaking stories, we only wish that we could do more. But hopefully with the increased publicity of our Benevolence Program, other shops will adopt a similar program of their own.”
