Free car offer rings in the giving season

With the holiday season fast approaching, one local car dealership is preparing to help one area family or individual “Get Back on their Feet.”

Co-owner Don Trudeau said this week the dealership just wants to give back to the community which supports their business.

“There’s a lot of people in need out there right now. Many are just one paycheck away from losing their home or car. One small hiccup in their life can really put them in a bad situation. Obviously we can’t help them all but we wanted to look at a way that could at least help someone and transportation is a big thing in people’s lives,” he said.

The winning family will receive the use of the brand new 2013 Dodge Dart for one full year or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Trudeau said the dealership will also spring for other important incidentals as part of the program.

“We will give them a tank full of gas just to start the month off. We will also take care of all of the maintenance on the car for a year and maybe that will be the catalyst that gets them to where they can go out and get the job they lost because they didn’t have transportation,” he said.

The deserving family must provide full coverage insurance for the car but the dealership will make the down payment.

Trudeau said the dealership plans to continue the program each year and invites any local business, especially area media outlets, to team up and keep the program moving forward.

“They will have one year of full use of the car and the following year we will pass it on to someone else and so on. The idea is to help another person or family get back on their feet. We’re looking to partner up with any of the local media who want to be part of this,” he urged.

In order for families to get in on the offer, they need to write or email any media outlet of their choice describing why they deserve the use of the car.

Trudeau said a special selection committee will go through all of the correspondence received and choose a family or individual.

“When the letters and emails start coming in we will form a board and vote on who we think the person is that can use the most help. We are looking for somebody who will truly benefit from this program, not someone who will find themselves in the same situation after the year is up. We want someone where this will really make a difference in their life,” he said.

Trudeau also said that every effort will be made to ensure the privacy of the person or family who is chosen.

“I don’t know if we need to use names because I don’t want to embarrass anyone. Maybe at the end we can tell their story without using their name,” he said.

The selection committee will begin reviewing the letters on Dec. 10 and a decision will be made five days later.

The vehicle will be awarded on New Year’s Eve at the dealership.

Additional guidelines for the program include: the family or individual must reside in Nye County and must surrender the vehicle if they move.

The vehicle must stay in the State of Nevada and be brought in once a month for inspection.

Any damage sustained on the vehicle must also be repaired within 15 days and any violation of said rules will result in the immediate end of use.

Immediate families of participating media outlets and Saitta Trudeau are not eligible for the program.