The Cars 4 Causes Blog.

In the aftermath of one of this nation’s worst tragedies, the 2001 attacks on The World Trade Centers in New York City, the hearts of Americans opened up and arms reached out from all over the world to help those who lost loved ones, their livelihoods, and their security.

This year, President Obama’s I Remember. I Serve. 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance was created “to reignite the spirit of unity and service that inspired Americans in the days after the September 11, 2001 tragedy.” As individuals, we’re inspired to help through our non-profit organizations and community service.

Over the last eight years, too, many organizations have stepped up their efforts to help those who help keep us safe — our military men and women and their families. We’re happy to say that some of these are Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners. (They’ve designated Cars 4 Causes®, a 501(c) (3) organization, as their vehicle donation facility, and people wanting to donate their vehicles can choose these charities when they donate to Cars 4 Causes®.)

We can’t name all of the organizations here, but we urge you to check our List of Approved Charities to see if you find your favorite non-profit there. Here are just a few of those serving Military and Veterans – We list them today, with our thanks:

Operation Homefront – A national organization offering emergency assistance, support, education and morale-boosting programs for deployed military and their family members, and returning wounded warriors.

Project Hollywood Cares – A Hollywood-based organization that gives copies of current movies and products of the entertainment industry to support and boost the morale of America’s military personnel for their dedicated service and sacrifice.

American Legion – With a membership of nearly 3 million, the American Legion is the preeminent community service organization for war-time veterans, with nearly 15,000 American Legion posts worldwide, and a host of programs for veterans and their loved ones

Operation Gratitude. Based in Encino, Calif., Operation Gratitude sends individually addressed care packages to lift the morale of American service members deployed in hostile and difficult conditions throughout the world.

We’re grateful to these organizations for the work they do in support of our troops, their families, and of all of the people serving in our armed forces. In their responding to tragedy with courage and compassion, we see the best of our American spirit — our heart, our strength.

Thank you, one and all.

– Pat Jessup, president, Cars 4 Causes®, The Charity That Gives to Charities®

We’re sometimes absolutely amazed at the variety of charities that benefit from car donation to Cars 4 Causes®. They cover almost all categories of philanthropy, and they stretch from coast to coast and internationally as well.

The program is quite straightforward: Charities designate Cars 4 Causes® as their vehicle donation charity through our Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners Program. Then, our donation team works with them, taking care of their vehicle donations.

Connecticut and Virginia

A Cars 4 Causes(R) Charity Partner, Everybody WINS Connecticut

One of the recent additions to Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners is Connecticut-based Everybody WINS Connecticut – a reading tutor and leadership program for youngsters. One of the creative things this charity does is pair middle school children with younger ones, to serve as ‘reading role models’.

In Lorton, Virginia, the Methuselah Foundation is dedicated to extending healthy human life, working for strategies that promote long-term health and to finding cures to age-related diseases.

From Georgia to California

In Atlanta, Georgia, our Charity Partner, the Ahimsa House, helps victims of

Ahimsa House, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a Cars 4 Causes (R) Charity Partner

domestic violence by providing care for their pets ; in Austin, Texas, My Healing Place helps people through grief and loss; and the Reno, Nevada-based Koinonia Family Services helps find foster and adoptive homes for children. In Los Angeles, Calif., A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides reentry support and sober living housing to previously incarcerated women and their children.

Coast to coast and beyond, charities are benefiting from donations to Cars 4 Causes®, the Charity that Gives to Charities®.We encourage you to visit our list of over 13,400 charities that benefit from donations to Cars 4 Causes®. We think you’ll be as amazed at the variety of helpful philanthropies as we are.

And come back frequently. More charities are joining the list every week.

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.

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.