The Cars 4 Causes Blog.

It’s back-to-school time around the nation, and we’re happy to say that this year, Cars 4 Cause® was able to help two students on their way to college. The only thing standing between these two courageous and hard-working students was transportation.

They were brought to our attention by Echoes of Hope, an organization that helps emancipated foster youth. The charity appealed to us through the Cars 4 Causes® Car Give-Away Program. They were seeking help for two of the youth in their program who had been accepted into college but had no way of getting there.

Here are the students’ stories and why we were thrilled to be able to help:

Truck donation helps Sealy, a straight-A student, go to UCLA

Shealy was a straight-A student in high school (4.06 grade average!). She was in the foster care system for years, but instead of letting the hardships of her life defeat her, she became a track athlete and a model student. She was accepted into the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). But to go to school, she needed reliable transportation. The logistical reality was that without a car, she could not attend.

The kind donation of a pickup truck made the difference for her; she’s now on her way to classes at UCLA.

Car donation helps Darryl, a straight-A student, attend CSULA. Darryl stands beside his car, with his friend who drove him up to pick up the donated vehicle.

Darryl was also a straight-A high school student. His life up to now has also been hard. He was 7 years old when he entered foster care. He describes his early years as “random disorganized disaster.” Darryl made it through a sad and often terrifying youth, and now he is majoring in Sociology at California State University, Los Angeles. He wants to make a difference in the lives of others.

He’s on his way to classes in a donated car, a car that he’ll remember for life as the car that made a difference for him.

The Cars 4 Causes® story began with the desire to help fund the education of young people, and we’re especially happy to share this back-to-school story. It reminds us of what an impact a charitable donation can have on the lives it touches.

To see the variety of ways your vehicle donation can help, check out the Cars 4 Causes® list of approved charities - over 13,400 charities at last count, from international organizations to regional branches, to local community charities.

Whether you’ve missed the Cash for Clunkers opportunity because your car did not qualify or because the program closed before you were ready, you can still take advantage of some great tax opportunities in 2009. This is one of the best years in recent history for car donation tax deductions.

We’ve been talking about this ‘double-tax’ advantage for the past couple of months. See our July blog, Cars 4 Causes® Adds it Up: Two Automobile Tax Deductions this Year! And it’s still a terrific opportunity.  2009 is – quite simply – a great year to donate a car to benefit your favorite charity.

A quick recap of those tax write-offs:

2009 Special Sales Tax Break for New Car Purchases. Equal to the sales and excise tax on the purchase of a qualifying new vehicle, this tax break is available even in states with no sales tax. (See the government’s program rules to see if you can benefit through this program.)

Tax Deduction for Your Car Donation. This is not just a 2009 opportunity. It’s every year. Call Cars 4 Causes® for more information (800.766.2273).

When you donate a car, you choose the charity that benefits, and isn’t it nice that you get a tax benefit, too!

When car donors make their donations to Cars 4 Causes®, they choose which charities will benefit. We have more than 13,400 charities on our current list, and we’re adding new ones all the time.

We also have the Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners Program. (Within this program, non-profit organizations designate Cars 4 Causes® as their car donation charity, and our experienced team then works directly with them to take care of their vehicle donations.)

We thought you’d like to hear about a few of our newest Charity Partners that focus their efforts on animals.

Ace of Hearts is a dog rescue foundation.

Ace of Hearts. This is a dog rescue foundation for animals in need. Its members rescue dogs from shelters, saving them from potentially being euthanized. Ace of Hearts is devoted to reducing pet over-population and finding these dogs happy, healthy homes.

Friends of Animals finds homes for abused cats and dogs

Friends of Animals Foundation. This charity rehabilitates and finds homes for abused, neglected and abandoned cats and dogs. They run a no-kill shelter that takes animals in, some in devastating conditions. The Friends of Animals Foundation is committed to finding responsible and loving adoptive families that will give these animals a second chance at a good life.

New England Equine Rescues. This organization is a network of volunteers who love horses. The New England Equine Rescues group facilitates the humane treatment and placement of horses, mainly focusing on crisis intervention.

See our list of charities on our Website – You’ll find many, many animal rescue organizations you can designate when you donate car through Cars 4 Causes®. We’d love to list them all here; they range from the Bat World Sanctuary in Texas to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee to the Maui Humane Society.

Your car donation span geography and charity to help those in need.

Often the journey of a vehicle donation surprises and delights us. As this one did. The donated vehicle was a box truck. It was plain and unassuming, and it was just what the CityKidz program desperately needed.

Donated to the Cars 4 Causes(R) Give-Away Program, this box truck plays a key role in a creative neighborhood project.esperately needed.

CityKidz is run by the South Coast Fellowship in Ventura, and the truck was donated as part of our Cars 4 Causes® Give-Away Program.

The truck is key to the success of the CityKidz program. The South Coast Fellowship painted it in fun colors and images and loaded it up with sound equipment, games, prizes and costumes. Now, volunteers take it on visits to local neighborhoods. At each stop, kids and their families are invited to come and participate in an exciting program that includes games, music, and impromptu skits.

The CityKidz’ immediate goal is to involve children and their families in expressive, creative and cooperative interaction. Volunteers visit each area once a week, and now residents look forward to seeing them arrive.  The longer-term goal is to build a relationship with neighborhood residents, one which allows the South Coast Fellowship to identify and meet practical needs.

The journey is a continuing one, and we’re pleased to see that a plain, white, donated truck could be transformed to play a colorful part in this successful program. Learn how to donate car today!