Car Auto Parts Guide

Previous: 21 September 2006

Cars 4 Christmas is a not for profit organization that provides free basic transportation to less fortunate individuals through donations from the public and supported by the automotive industry

(PRWEB) January 27, 2005 -- In 1996 a man in Kansas City, known today as the Car Santa, started giving away some big Christmas presents. Presents that would not fit under the tree. The first year the Car Santa gave six cars to some very deserving people on Christmas Eve. He has given away hundreds of vehicles since then. On Christmas Eve this year, he will be giving away more than one hundred cars in various towns in the Midwest - including fifty vehicles in Kansas City, alone. He doesn't just give them to anyone, they must submit a request to him by mail or through his website. And there are some rules - you can't be able to obtain a car any other way.


The Car Santa is not giving away new cars, just basic transportation. The cars are all used. Their odometers are as low as 40,000 miles or as high as 250,000. Some of the vehicles have rust, dents and dings. All, however, meet mechanical and safety inspection standards. "Some of them aren't the most beautiful cars in the world, but we aren't giving away prizes to people for being poor," says the Car Santa. He calls the cars "just a hand to get started." Some are used vans with wheelchair lifts, power wheelchairs and more. Some people don't believe in Santa,
but over a hundred people will come to believe this Christmas.


"It takes a lot of help to deliver this big presents all in one night. It's really is a community effort," says Car Santa. But he says he doesn't do this alone. His helpers are many and they are everywhere. "It started as a little thing with a few people, but hundreds have joined it. It's all grass roots. We've got no government grants. We're totally people helping people." Together they help make the program work. The public donates the vehicles, many from area car dealerships.


Local mechanic and body shops participate, along with stores such as O'Reilly Auto Parts. Radio and TV stations publicize the event and receive many of the phone calls and emails of potential recipients.

State Highway Patrol officers donate and install child safety seats.


The Car Santa is actually Terry Franz who has been providing these vehicles for nine years. Franz founded Cars 4 Christmas in 1996 to help people that were just unable to obtain a vehicle. At that time, he said, there seemed to be networks of charity organizations capable of helping people get food, housing or employment aid. "Nobody provided transportation," says Franz. "And a lot of these people can help themselves if they can get from point A to point B."


Reliable transportation positively affects an individual's or family's ability to endure and ultimately pull through a life changing tragedy or hardship and move on to normalized circumstances. Today's world demands that the average individual have personal transportation. This has inarguably been the case across the US for several decades as Americans have based important family, career and overall life decisions and activities on the ability to transport them. Just as the average company cannot function properly without the use of computer technology, neither can the average individual function without the use of an automobile.


Franz works all year getting cars roadworthy. With his helpers, he then reads over 5,000 requests, checking them twice to find the most in need. Then on Christmas Eve, he delivers all his oversized presents. Sound familiar? That's why the Midwest calls him the Car Santa.


To Donate a Vehicle or Request to See One,
Contact:

Terry Franz
Phone interview: 913-897-0621

Address: 7707 W 149th
Overland Park, Ks 66223

e-mail protected from spam bots
http://www.cars4christmas.org


Author: Car Santa