New Jersey veteran gets gifted a new car

Here’s a story that will make you feel good; I’ve written about this program before; the National Auto Body Council and its member shops refurbish cars and give them to people who need them.

Shops in the auto body business take donated vehicles (and sometimes donate the cars themselves), fix them up, and give them to people who are in need of reliable transportation

This story is about Caliber Auto Body in Pennington; according to ABC6 Philadelphia, former Airborne Ranger Lemmuel Thomas needed about eight hours to commute to his job every day via a combination of bus, rail, rideshares, and walking. What he needed, but couldn’t afford, was a car of his own.

That all changed when he was presented with the keys to a refurbished 2015 Hyundai Sonata, which, Thomas says, will give him back six hours a day that he can now spend with his family.

He told CBS3 in Philly,

My day just got a little more fuller," Thomas said. "Now, I can move around and I can just have some time to myself and my kids.

Tom Adams is the technician who did the work; he told ABC6, "I do these cars in my father-in-law's memory who was in Pearl Harbor and survived the bombings," Adams said, "and received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart." This is the seventh vehicle Adams has refurbished for the program.

GEICO is also sponsors the program.