Long Island auto body repair shops have joined together to help six local military families in need. The repairers are members of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) and have partnered to participate in NABC’s Recycled Rides program.
“Our goal with this project is to help people right here in our local community; we utilized the Recycled Rides program because of the great toolkit and tremendous resources the NABC has assembled,” said Joseph Amodei from 112 Automotive in Patchogue, New York.
Amodei and his team participated in last year’s program and decided to recruit other repair shops into the program this year.
“Together, we can help more families who are in need of a reliable vehicle – this is something many of us take for granted,” Amodei added. “These are men and women who served our country and for one reason or another need our help. When I reached out to my competitors, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they jumped in to help. We do have good, community-oriented repairers around Long Island.”
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Suffolk County Council and the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency have identified the families in need using the Recycled Rides programs recipient criteria. Local politicians and dignitaries are expected to attend the gifting event to be held in a local community center.
The participating repair facilities are: 112 Automotive in Patchogue, Riverhead Collision in Riverhead, Mike G’s Perfection Auto Body in Miller Place, Vittorio’s Auto Body in Huntington, Mid Island Collision in Rockville Center, and J&J Auto Body in Ronkonkoma. The shops are also members of the Long Island Auto Body Repairmen’s Association (LIABRA).
Insurance companies donating vehicles are: Allstate, GEICO, Progressive and Travelers.
“ As a local trade association, we are proud that these six members are meeting the goal of the NABC by helping local families and enhancing the image of the collision repair industry,” said LIABRA Executive Director Ed Kizenberger.
“Coming together to work on these vehicles has been a great experience not only for me, but for my entire staff. This is a great way for our team to help in our community,” said Michael Giordano from Mike G’s Perfection Auto Body in Miller Place.
“We are grateful that Joe came to us and asked us to participate. These vehicles are going to make six families’ Christmas very, very special,” said Bill Tonyes from J&J Autobody in Ronkonkoma.
Recycled Rides is a community awareness project in which members of the NABC repair and donate recycled vehicles to families and service organizations in need throughout the United States. Recycled Rides is scheduled to make 100 vehicle donations this holiday season, with a giveaway day scheduled for the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Visit www.autobodycouncil.org for more information.
