Recycled Rides recipient Cheryl Zaun couldn’t stop smiling. “Oh gosh, I can’t believe it!” she said. “I have to say, my son Mickey was a motorhead. I’m sure he’s smiling down from heaven. This is an unbelievable gift for me.”
Cheryl lost her son, Sergeant First Class Mickey E. Zaun, ten years ago due to injuries sustained during an armored vehicle collision near Mosul, Iraq. Prior to his death, Cheryl had been in two separate accidents resulting in severe injuries. As a result, she is unable to work and lives on disability.
The sacrifice of Cheryl and her son, Sergeant First Class Mickey E. Zaun, was recognized at the Recycled Rides event on Tuesday in honor of Memorial Day. There Cheryl received a repaired 2009 Nissan Altima donated by Farmers Insurance and repaired by LaMettry’s Collision with help from many local vendor partners.
The keynote speaker was Senator David Hann from District 48 who is also a Vietnam Vet. He thanked the Zaun family for their sacrifice and spoke of the Recycled Ride as “a symbol of respect and gratitude that we have for what you and your son have given to our country.”
Also speaking at the event was Rep. Jim Nash, District 47A. He thanked the military and reminded everyone, “It’s very important that we never forget the freedom we have was given to us by the men and women who stood up and said, ‘I will defend you.’”
The last speaker was SSG Scott Adams who was the recipient of LaMettry’s Recycled Ride in November of 2013. He welcomed Cheryl to the family, and gave some perspective. “As an NCO, when you’re out there, you want information. What you always tell your troops is, ‘Hey, don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.’ And that’s what you have done with this. You’ve made a solution to veteran’s and their family’s problems. And you’re fixing them.”
To end the ceremony, LaMettry’s Collision CEO Joanne LaMettry handed over the keys to a very excited and grateful Chery Zaun. This is the 5th vehicle LaMettry’s has repaired and donated.
About LaMettry’s Collision
LaMettry’s Collision has been family owned and operated since 1976. Today, LaMettry’s has eight auto body repair shops in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro, providing the very finest auto body repair in the Twin Cities area. www.lamettrys.com
About Farmers Insurance
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is a leading U.S. insurer group of automobiles, homes and small businesses and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 22,000 employees. For more information about Farmers, visit its Web site at www.farmers.com, Twitter @WeAreFarmers or at www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.
About NABC and Recycled Rides
The National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides program is a collaboration between insurers, collision shops, paint suppliers, and parts vendors to repair and donate vehicles to deserving individuals and community organizations across the country. http://www.nationalautobodycouncil.org/
