An RU Giving Update: Bird Chevrolet Does It Again - ResourcesUnite!

We recently shared a story for our RU Giving project detailing the generosity of Bird Chevrolet. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, please take a moment to read that blog post first. In it we told the story of Tara, a single mother doing all she can to make a better life for her and her son. Tara is part of the Circles Initiative, recently earned a new job and is quickly becoming an inspiration to all those around her.

Tara’s story with RU started when we found out her car had a rusted gas tank which made it almost impossible to use. We reached out to Bird, as described in our last post, and we were ecstatic when they decided to replace the tank free of charge to help Tara. We ran the blog post and ended our week on cloud nine.

However, come Monday we found out there was a major hiccup.

Chris, from Bird Chevrolet called to report they were worried about the deteriorating state of the rest of Tara’s car. Sure they could replace the gas tank, but in doing so they worried they would disrupt other parts of the car. Fixing the gas tank might actually make the car worse, even unsafe. It was a devastating blow. We’d have to go back and tell Tara her gas tank wasn’t going to be replaced after all.

But as Chris continued to talk it became clear this wasn’t the end of the story. The good people at Bird discussed the issue and came up with a solution to make sure Tara’s story had a happy ending.

They decide they would give Tara a car.

Yep.

A car.

For free.

We had the same reaction everyone has when they hear this story. It takes a couple minutes to comprehend. But then when it sinks in, it sinks in.

Calling Tara was one of the best feel good moments of my life. Telling her about the inability to replace the gas tank but then quickly moving on to the good news. If it took a while for the news to sink in for me, imagine how Tara felt. She was on an emotional roller coaster of thinking she had a new gas tank for her barely functional car, to thinking she couldn’t drive her car, to realizing she was being given a free car. All in about 4 seconds.

Suddenly shouts of bewilderment and joy filled my ears. And then, after all the shouting, tears. Tears and gratitude. Gratitude to Chris and Bird Chevrolet. Gratitude that her life will continue in this upward swing she has created for herself. Gratitude that there are people in our community who will do what it takes to help their neighbor.

Tara recently sent this thank you message for us to post on her behalf:

“I wanted to thank everyone at Bird Chevrolet and the Resources Unite community for all your help. I truly can’t express the hope this has given me. It is such a relief knowing I have a safe and reliable car for my son and I. I have found full-time employment and now I won’t have to worry about whether my car will get me to work every day. It has been such an unexpected and incredible experience. I still can’t believe it happened to me.”

I ended the last post by saying this story is “community at its best.” I never dreamed I’d be coming back to add more “best” to this story. Thanks again community. And thanks again Bird Chevrolet.

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