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Turning a Great Ride into a Great Donation

Thanks to one of our recent vehicle donors, we’re all sunshine and rainbows over here at First Place for Youth! Donating a vehicle is not only easy, but it’s also fun! Whether it’s a classic car leaving a legacy for grandma or honoring dad’s favorite Chevy pick-up with a memorable way to say goodbye, every vehicle donation is a unique gift with the potential to bring a great story along for the ride.  

Recent car donor Ainé Henderson, whose vehicle no longer ‘sparked joy,’ shared her inspiration behind donating to First Place and experience with the car donation process.
 

Aine, we are grateful for your generous donation, can you tell us why you decided to donate your car?  

I decided to donate my car because it finally gave out on me and the cost to bring it back to life was beyond my ability. Thanks to my family, I was lucky to have another car lined up, and the decision just made sense. I was being gifted something, so it felt right to gift on my end too. Of course, I could’ve gone through a private dealer on craigslist, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that when I knew that my car’s donation could support an even bigger cause. I wasn’t in a situation where I was desperate for the cash, so I figured why not make it work for others more than it would for me?” 

Thank you! We know that donors have a lot of choices when it comes to supporting a nonprofit. What inspired you to choose First Place for a car donation?  

I chose First Place because the more I’ve learned about the program, the more it has expanded my heart. I saw the short film Unadopted through my work which highlighted some of the work First Place does for young adults aging out of the foster care system, and it struck a chord with me.  

Entering adulthood is hard enough when you have a support system. Mistakes are so easy to make when you don’t know better. When I think about myself as a young adult, I know how often I called on my family to help me out because I’d done something stupid that was a huge deal to me.  

As an older adult, when you’re more stable financially, mistakes still happen, but you’re able to anticipate them. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without a safety net. First Place is taking active steps to be that safety net for so many that don’t have that luxury.   

What was your experience with the donation process? Would you recommend this to others?  

The process was straightforward, and I do recommend it. I’ve already helped another friend donate their vehicle since I donated mine. I called the number to donate my car, and I specified First Place for Youth as my organization of choice. They walked me through the process, asked me for information on the car. Then, a day or two later, I was helping line up my car for the tow truck. Everyone was incredibly nice along the way. They were even helpful down to the details on how to handle the donation on my taxes. I really felt supported in the process, and I hope to be able to do this again in the future sometime. 

Donating your unwanted car, truck, motorcycle, RV, or boat is as easy as can bee!

We’ll use the proceeds from donated cars, trucks, RVs, boats, motorcycles and even airplanes to help support our programs for transition-age foster youth.

Here’s How It Works:

  1. Call: 855-500-RIDE (7433) or complete the online donation form at https://careasy.org/nonprofit/FirstPlaceforYouth. Our vehicle donation support team is available seven days a week and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
  2. Schedule Your Free Pick-up: We arrange to have a licensed tow company pick up your vehicle at a time convenient for you—all at no cost to you.
  3. Vehicle donations are tax-deductible, and we work to get the highest return per vehicle for us and for your tax benefit. In most cases, when the driver arrives for your tax-deductible gift, you’ll be provided with the donation receipt. You will be mailed a thank-you letter within 30 days of the sale of the vehicle, which also serves as a donation tax receipt.

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