The Cars 4 Causes Blog.

We’re taking a moment today to celebrate and congratulate some recent additions to our 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 here at The Charity that Gives to Charities® are proud to announce these recent new additions.

Elings Park. A private, non-profit park in Santa Barbara County, supported entirely by donations and user fees, Elings Park provides a variety of sports and recreational activities for youth and families.

Feline Network of Central Coast. Volunteers at the Feline Network of the Central Coast work to rescue, and find foster homes for, abandoned domestic cats in San Luis Obispo County. The group’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program helps to humanely reduce the feral cat population.

Freedom is Not Free. This organization provides support and assistance to wounded soldiers, their families and the families of fatally wounded soldiers. Its programs range from individual assistance to soldiers for rehabilitation and necessities, to supporting other organizations with complementary goals, to refurbishing facilities that serve the wounded soldiers and their families.

Operation Homefront. Operation Homefront offers emergency assistance, support, education and morale-boosting programs for deployed military and their family members, and returning wounded warriors. The goal is to make a difference in the quality of life for military families affected by deployment.

Pacific Pride Foundation. The Pacific Pride Foundation provides support services and advocacy to the HIV/AIDS and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities of Santa Barbara County. The group provides a food pantry, community resources and education, as well as comprehensive health services, counseling and care.

Youth Education and Youth Programs. Cars 4 Causes partners with many education and youth programs. The latest to join for increased car donations are: the Boys & Girls Club of Conejo/Las Virgenes, Chaparral High School in Ojai, Calif., and Girls Inc. of San Diego.

The Cars 4 Causes list of charities includes thousands of qualifying organizations, and we are adding more almost every day. If you don’t see your favorite charity on our website, please contact us. We have many, many more charities and we’re happy to review new ones, too.

Laura’s husband had ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), and as his disease progressed, he was more and more housebound. They bought a 2007 Honda Odyssey and had it outfitted with a chair lift. (The chair lift alone was valued at $20,000, and they felt lucky that they were able to afford it.) Laura and her husband put just 7,000 miles on their Honda before his death. Then Laura donated the car to Cars 4 Causes. She made just one stipulation:

This Honda Odyssey van, equipped with a chair lift was donated with the stipulation that it go to a person with ALS.

She wanted the specially equipped Honda to go to someone with ALS, someone who would benefit from it as her husband had.

The Second Owner

Norris, who also suffered from ALS, lived 20 miles away, and he was the recipient of the donated car. His wife, Loretta, tells us that the car made all the difference in the last two months of Norris’s life. Just a ride around town was a treat and a drive outside to see the countryside – well, that was a dream. In those last two months, the couple drove just 50 miles, but the car gave Norris access to the world again.

When Norris passed away, Loretta donated the Honda Odyssey back to Cars 4 Causes with one stipulation. We were not surprised. She said it must go to someone with ALS, and so it did.

The Third Owner

The specially equipped Honda Odyssey is now serving Sherry, who also has ALS. Her sister, Sheila, says Sherry has a laundry list of places she wants to go, and they plan to drive to them all. Sherry has already made her stipulation. When she is finished with the car, she wants it to go to someone with ALS.

The car has been dubbed “the car with angel wings” and we think it is that. Also, we think of it as the car with courage. Make a car donation today! Your donation will support thousands of people who need your help.

The federal government’s recently announced new car sales tax deduction is terrific news if you’re planning to donate car to charity this year. With this program, you may qualify for two tax deductions – that’s right, two: one for the car you are donating, and one for the new car you purchase.

Much of the media talk around the subject of new car tax deductions has been focused on the Car Allowance Rebate System (the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program). But, while this program may benefit some new car buyers with a trade-in vehicle, it does not pencil out for everyone.

Tax Deduction for New Car Purchase

For many, especially if you have a charity you support, the real value may be in the New Car Tax Deduction amendment to the Economic Stimulus Package. With this program, you can be eligible for a tax credit (a tax deduction against taxable income) equal to the sales and excise tax on your purchase of a qualifying new vehicle. (Click here to see the rules of this program.)

Tax Deduction for Car Donation

You still take your tax deduction for your car donation, too!

And, as the rules stand, your tax deduction on your donated vehicle equals the gross selling price. (Click here to see the federal brochure on car donations.) There are lots of reasons that donating your car may be the best option for you. For example, your vehicle may be worth more than the clunker payoff would allow; you or your car may not qualify for the clunker program; your tax situation may benefit more from a donation (your tax accountant can determine this for you).

Overall, too, there’s the benefit of donating a car to charity and helping your cause while also improving your tax situation this year.

Tom Fick, a former naval lieutenant and a longtime member of the Television Academy’s nonfiction peer group, put 2 and 2 together and came up with 120,000. That’s 120,000 DVDs sent each year to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to wounded members of the armed forces rehabilitating in military hospitals.

Tom Fick, Project Hollywood Cares, with the donated car he received through Cars 4 Causes

We were amazed. He certainly proved to us what a difference an individual can make. His original brainstorm was to collect the “for your consideration” movies sent to members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Emmy Award viewing and to forward them to our armed forces.

Building a New Organization

Fick started Project: Hollywood Cares out of his garage, spending the first several months acquiring the permissions needed to re-distribute DVDs intended for screenings only. He was successful, with Hollywood pros at all levels responding and helping him further the cause.  Since then, the motion picture and music industries have joined Project: Hollywood Cares, too. And thousands of military personnel have been able to sit back and enjoy a bit of home while far away from home. (Click here to read a news story about troops receiving Project: Hollywood Cares packages.)

Project: Hollywood Cares is an all-volunteer organization, and it is constantly on the road picking up donations, shipping them, visiting hospitals, and sometimes presenting video libraries to stateside military bases, Navy ships and military hospitals.

The young organization, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation, came to Cars 4 Causes seeking any help we could provide. A car “would be of invaluable assistance,” Fick said. In the current economic downturn, though his group is overwhelmingly successful in procuring donated items, fund-raising is tight, and they desperately needed transportation. We were pleased to be able to help with a donated car, a Honda Accord, to help keep those morale-boosting movies going to the troops. Learn how to donate car today!

Cars 4 Causes® sometimes receives requests from charitable organizations for car donations for individuals in need. One recent one that we were able to match with a car through the Cars 4 Causes Car Give-Away Program, was sent by the Los Angeles-based charity, Echoes of Hope.

The happy artist: Laron Wallace stands with John Huffman, president of Echoes of Hope, who appealed to Cars 4 Causes® for a car donation.

The charity wrote to us on behalf of a young artist, Laron Wallace. The young man was “in dire need of reliable transportation,” wrote John Huffman, president of Echoes of Hope. He went on to tell us a bit about Laron.

What Convinced Us to Help

It turns out that this amazing young person has overcome tremendous obstacles in his life. After his abandonment by his father and the death of his mother, Laron spent his childhood and adolescence in the foster care system.

His was not an idyllic childhood, not by any stretch of the imagination. Despite these early years, though, Laron has grown up to be a well-rounded, hard-working student.

He works and attends college, and he has very realistic dreams of a future in art.

Drawn by Laron Wallace, this picture captures his appreciation for his donated car. Look closely and you’ll find a few keywords in the art, like Toyota Corolla, Cars 4 Causes, and his “thank you”, too.

Recently, his car froze up, and the cost of repairs equaled more than the car’s value – and much more than Laron had in his wallet, too!

Echoes of Hope appealed to Cars 4 Causes®, the Charity that Gives to Charities®, and we were able to help. We found a 2002 Toyota Corolla for Laron.

A Future Filled With Art

So, this young artist is continuing his studies, supporting himself with his work, and getting to and from it all in his car, a car that came to us from a generous car donor. Learn how to donate car today!