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Liberty man gets wheels through giveaway
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Written by Angie Anaya Borgedalen
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Thursday, 18 March 2010 01:00
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As Rodney Sauer trudged 9 miles to work through snow-packed and icy roads during one of the more miserable winters on record, he mostly prayed.
His prayers were answered recently when he received a car from Cars 4 Christmas, an organization that provides vehicles year-round for needy individuals and families. The nonprofit group also operates Cars 4 Heroes, designated for veterans down on their luck.
Sauer, 55, was handed the keys to a 1988 Plymouth Reliant at Hart’s Auto Repair in Liberty March 4.
“I think it’s pretty awesome,” Sauer said. “It’s been a tough winter.”
Sauer had been living in a camper and walking from Liberty to his job as a stocker at a grocery store near Interstate 35 and Chouteau Trafficway. Since he worked the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, Sauer said he got up at 3:30 a.m. and walked for two hours along frontage and side roads to get to his job.
He said the bus schedule from Liberty to downtown Kansas City didn’t work for him, and it was too difficult to ride a bike through snow- and ice-encrusted streets and try to navigate across busy highways in the dark.
“I didn’t want to lose my job, so I walked,” Sauer said.
While he rarely got a ride to work, Sauer said sometimes a co-worker would give him a lift home.
It was that dedication to work no matter how difficult the circumstances that helped Sauer qualify for a car, said Darren Hart, owner of the auto repair shop that donated its labor to fix the car up for Sauer. Hart said Kevin Elam at Liberty Machine Shop donated all the machine work for the engine and NAPA donated the parts.
Hart said this was the first car he had been involved in repairing for the charity but he planned to do a second one this year.
Having reliable transportation can make the difference between someone being able to hold a job or becoming homeless, said Terry Franz, a former car dealer who started the local giveaway program 15 years ago. He runs the charity in Kansas City, Wichita, Kan., and Omaha, Neb.
“We get about 15,000 applications and give away between 250 and 300 cars per year now,” Franz said. “The cars are mostly donated from the public. We take anything.”
He said even if some cars were not worth fixing, they could still use parts and sell the rest for salvage.
Franz said one of the more unusual donations was a 2005 Jaguar.
“We sold it and were able to get four or five cars to give away,” he said. “Our philosophy is to provide basic transportation with a car that’s mechanically sound.”
FIND OUT MORE
To find out about donating a vehicle or applying for a vehicle, call 913-643-1491 or go to www.cars4christmas.org.
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Lights, camera … NAPAHart's Auto Repair of Liberty spotlighted in national training, recruitment videos By: Natalie Shelton Thursday, July 12, 2007 1:30 PM CDT Like clockwork, Darrin Clawson comes to Hart's Auto Repair in Liberty every 3,000 miles for an oil change on his car.
So when he walked in on a recent Thursday, he knew something was different.
“I walked in and saw the cameras and thought 'Uh-oh,'” said Clawson of Kansas City North. “That's when they asked if I'd be a customer in their commercial.”
Clawson then sat patiently in the waiting area as owner Darren Hart sat down and consulted with his customer, cameras rolling all the while.
Affiliates of NAPA Auto Parts corporate headquarters in Atlanta were on hand at Hart's Auto Repair last month to film training and recruitment videos and other internal communication videos that will be shown nationwide.
There's a reason the corporate office chose Hart's Auto Repair, said Mike Dunn, video producer.
“Darren has been an outstanding example of a NAPA auto care center, which corporate knew especially through the Kansas City NAPA distribution center,” Dunn said.
Marketing seems to be Hart's forte, but he said it would not be possible without the NAPA brand and the support that came with it.
“I think one reason they may have chosen us is that we really take advantage of a lot of programs NAPA has to offer,” Hart said. “An auto-care center can pick and choose what they wish to offer from NAPA. I think we're one of the few that really take advantage of what they have.”
All NAPA auto-care centers are independently owned, and Hart is chairman of the Kansas City Metro Select business development group, comprised of 13 NAPA auto-care centers in the metro area. NAPA business development groups are located throughout the country as the corporate office's way of helping organize the independent repair shops in an area to market their businesses.
The Kansas City Metro Select group plans to sponsor the Good Guys Car Show at the Kansas Speedway on Labor Day weekend. Members have a Web site, kcmetroselect.com, from which customers can print online coupons.
Hart's also recently established its own Web site, hartsautorepair.com. Hart said customers could find more online coupons there and even set up online appointments at least 48 hours in advance.
Hart's opened in 1989 and became a NAPA auto-care center six years ago. Having located just across Interstate 35 in Liberty, Hart's was one of the only businesses there; The Home Depot's site, for instance, was a grassy field.
“People in Liberty couldn't find us,” said Hart, whose business is AAA-certified. “But then we put up that blue and yellow sign, and when it's all lit up here at night, it's made it really become almost a landmark. How do you put a value on that?”
Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com. |
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