It seems appropriate that “MSO” is just a letter off from “USO.”
For more than 70 years since it was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the United States headed into World War II, the USO has served out its mission of “lifting the spirits of America’s troops and their families.”
Many of the multi-shop operations (MSOs) in the collision repair industry are doing their part to demonstrate respect and to help the country’s military, veterans and their families. Here are just a few examples.
Working with “Recycled Rides”
Last year was the second time LeMettry’s Collision has donated a vehicle through the National Auto Body Council (NABC) “Recycled Rides” program. LeMettry’s, which operates eight shops in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area, worked with its vendor partners to fully refurbish a 2008 Chevrolet Uplander to present to U.S. Army veteran Scott Adams and his family.
In 2007, Adams was in a Humvee that hit two anti-tank mines in Iraq. He received a Purple Heart but also endured 38 surgeries. When asked at the presentation of the van how he felt, Adams said only one word came to mind: “Overwhelmed.”
Franchises do their part
Many of the CARSTAR franchises make special efforts on behalf of the nation’s veterans. Wicklund’s CARSTAR Collision Repair & Glass, for example, holds an annual “military appreciation celebration” each fall at its shop in Liberty, Missouri. The shop works with its vendors and local restaurants to host active military and veterans for an evening of food, drinks, live musical entertainment and door prizes as the shop’s way of “saying thank you for serving our country.”
Like the Wicklund family, other CARSTAR franchisees give back to America’s veterans. Last fall, 21 CARSTAR locations in the Puget Sound area of Washington State worked jointly to restore a 2002 Ford Winstar van to a military family through a VA hospital. The recipients were Craig and Maria Sotebeer, both U.S. Army combat veterans who served in Iraq as medics. Craig is a disabled veteran and is a Purple Heart and bronze star recipient. He was having trouble making his ongoing medical appointments because the family’s car had given out.
“When we heard about Craig and Maria’s situation, there was no doubt we needed to do what we could to help them,” Todd Miller of the CARSTAR’s Puget Sound group of shops said.
And Marshall’s Autobody CARSTAR in Billerica, Mass., collected donations to purchase iPods, iPads, Kindles and other electronics for military members recovering from injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“The gift of an iPad, Nook or Kindle, or even magazines and books, provides some much needed distraction from the grueling rehabilitation processes these soldiers face,” said shop owner Jim Marshall, himself an Air Force veteran.
Metal of Honor Project
CollisionMax Autobody & Glass Centers this year is completing a year-long Metal of Honor Project though its 11 shops and its GlassMax mobile glass repair business in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each month over the course of a year, Collision Max selected a U.S. military veteran to receive free repairs to their vehicle.
“The Metal of Honor Project is our way of saying thank you and honoring the men and women of our armed forces who put their lives on the line for all of us,” Jim Tometta, president and CEO of CollisionMax, said.
The company set up a website for the project (www.metalofhonorproject.com), which enabled anyone to nominate a veteran in need of vehicle repair. The website also includes video interviews and other information about each of the winners.
The winner from the CollisionMax Oxford Valley shop, for example, was Jerry McMullin, who was hit by a mortar shell in 1969 while serving in the U.S. Marines in the Vietnam War. Despite significant injuries, after multiple surgeries he was returned to active duty until he was discharged in 1972.
McMullin acknowledges his return to civilian life was difficult, contributing to his divorce, a series of part-time jobs and even eight months of homelessness, living in his car. But he eventually turned his life around, retiring in 2000 from a long-time job and now living in Bensalem, Pa., with his wife and their 27-year-old son, who has Down’s Syndrome.
CollisionMax repaired a variety of damage and rust on McMullin’s 2002 Chevrolet Silverado, and put in a new windshield.
“I use the truck to take my son back and forth to work, and now it’s looks better than new,” McMullin said.
The gift of reliable transportation
Texas-based Caliber Collision Centers donated 17 refurbished vehicles to those in need last year through the NABC’s “Recycled Rides” program. One of the first such vehicles it did this year went to Jalisa Watkins, a Senior Airman with the United States Air Force stationed at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Watkins’ husband has been struggling to get work, and their family – which includes a 17-month-old son – has been facing mounting debt. Without a car, Watkins was finding it a challenge to get to her work at the base.
She sought help from Operation Homefront, a national support organization for military families, which in turn nominated her as a recipient for Caliber’s “Recycled Rides” program. On Valentine’s Day, Caliber presented Watkins with a vehicle that had been donated by Farmers Insurance and refurbished by Caliber employees volunteering their personal time.
Todd Dillender, vice president of Caliber Collision, which has more than 160 shops in six states, said that lack of reliable transportation can be a huge barrier for a struggling family trying to regain its financial stability.
“We hope this special Valentine’s Day gift will ease the burden of transportation and help Jalisa and her family get back on the road towards a brighter future,” Dillender said.
Support for VFW
Don’s Auto Body, which has five locations in San Francisco and San Mateo, Calif., gives back to its community by supporting a number of charities and non-profit groups. One of those organizations is the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. Since the 1920s. the VFW has used a “Buddy Poppy” program to assist veterans. The VFW works with disabled and needy veterans to assemble the artificial “Buddy Poppy” flowers, providing some income to those veterans as well as helping fund the VFW’s other work on behalf of veterans, including state and national veterans' rehabilitation services, and the VFW National Home for orphans and widows of veterans.
In a letter to Donald and Cynthian Shinazy, owners of Don’s Auto Body, Richard Argo of the VFW Post 1205 thanked them for their “generous” and “continuous” support of the Buddy Poppy program.
“As you may know the program is designed to help veterans and their families in time of need,” Argo said in his letter to the Shinazys. “They are the ultimate beneficiaries of your kind support.”
Vehicle helps tow memorial
Collision Centers of America, which operates more than 20 shops in Illinois, also worked with State Farm and the NABC to refurbish and donate a vehicle last year. But rather than giving that vehicle to a single veteran, the company instead donated the 2007 GMC Yukon to the Military Order of the Purple Heart of Illinois. That group’s membership is made up of solely of combat-wounded veterans.
The newly-refurbished GMC is used to tow a trailer that transports a 40-foot “Memorial Wall of Honor” commemorating those members of the military from Illinois who died in WWll, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
“May we never forget the great sacrifices made by our men and women who serve our country,” Dave Mulder Jr., chief operating officers for Collision Centers of America, said. “We are proud to be a small part in remembering those who served all.”
When the vehicle is not towing the memorial, it is used to transport Purple Heart or other veterans to medical appointments and other veteran-related activities.
Special vehicle for special circumstances
There were several unique twists to Sterling Autobody Centers’ refurbishment and donation of a car to a veteran last year. First, it was no ordinary vehicle. It was a handicapped-accessible Ford van. Technicians at one of the company’s 61 shops, along with some of the company’s vendor partners, gave the van a complete make-over, including new wheels, tires, brakes and parking lights, as well as a stereo system and exterior wrap.
The recipient was retired Navy veteran Charlie Harcus. Harcus served 26 years as an aviations weapons system operator in the Navy. His service included several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and throughout his military career he made 23 water rescues. The rigors of combat, including being involved in several helicopter crashes, left Harcus with a bad back and chronic knee pain.
But the other unique aspect of Sterling’s donation: It wasn’t Harcus’ injuries that necessitated a handicapped accessible van. Harcus’ wife, Missy, fell four years ago, and her knee injury resulted in seven surgeries leaving her largely bed-bound.
As he accepted the vehicle, Harcus said the van represented freedom for Missy, allowing her to get out of the house because of his own difficulty moving her and her wheelchair in and out of their car.
“I think we came full circle that day,” Marcia Ensely, a communications consultant with Sterling Autobody Centers wrote about the van donation on the company’s blog. “We gave the gift of freedom to a veteran and his family for all he did to protect ours.”
Finding those in need
Service King, the Texas-based MSO with more than 80 locations, worked with the “Helping A Hero” organization to find a worthy recipient for the vehicle it donated through the Recycled Rides program last year. Helping A Hero helps those wounded during their military service find, build or adapt homes to accommodate their special needs. But they partner with other organizations, such as the Rotary, to help meet those military families’ other needs as well.
It was through this organization that Service King learned of Army Sergeant First Class Scott Lathan who served four years in the Marines, returned home to become a decorated police officer, then spent eight years in the Army including two tours in Iraq.
In 2006, an explosive device penetrated his Humvee while on patrol and he received shrapnel to his face and neck. He returned to duty, but once he medically retired the following year, it was determined he had a traumatic brain injury, severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and hip, knee and spinal damage not apparent at the time he suffered the other injuries.
Service King presented Lathan with a refurbished car to help him, his wife and two children continue to recover and rebuild from his service to the country.
Golf tournaments another way to give
Minnesota-based ABRA Auto Body & Glass also has done its part to help veterans and their families. The company’s shops in Washington State, for example, were the title sponsor at the Enterprise Golf Classic held last summer in Bellevue, Wash. Proceeds from the event went to the charity branch of the Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The Fisher House provides “a home away from home” that enables military family members to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.
At another golf tournament last summer in Minnesota, ABRA helped raise more than $30,000 to benefit “Helping Paws,” which works to connect the “healing power” of service dogs with disabled veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Supporting these training dogs to help heal our heroes is a privilege,” Duane Rouse, CEO of ABRA, said.
In 2012, ABRA repaired a van donated by Geico Insurance for Sandra Hamilton, whose active-duty husband was serving in Iraq and who had no way to transport their five children.
“It’s the first time in about a year now we’ll have a vehicle that can transport the little ones safely, so we’re not in three different vehicles or borrowing somebody else’s car to go somewhere,” Hamilton said when given the keys to the vehicle. “It’s a God-send.”
These and other MSOs in the collision repair industry are demonstrating that just like the USO, they are working to “lift the spirits of America’s troops and their families.”
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