St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador — Proving why they are the fixture in the Newfoundland collision repair community that they are, Collision Clinic and Sharon Wells are proud to announce the completion of its nineteenth annual Enriching Lives car giveaway.
This year, Cassie Ward of Mount Pearl, N.L. is the lucky winner of a refurbished Kia Soul.
Ward described the experience of winning a free car to CBC reporters as being “Surreal, completely surreal,” a teary-eyed Ward said from the driver’s seat of her new ride. “I don’t even know what to think. This is amazing.”
Along with the gift of a Soul (Kia, that is), comes a free first year of insurance coverage, courtesy of Collision Clinic; a gesture that general manager Sharon Wells says has come to mean more than ever to a Maritime community that is feeling the effects of rising costs-of-living.
She said this year’s round of applicants brought with them stories of layoffs and struggles to provide food and transportation for their families.
For the company’s part, Wells said it was difficult even just to source a vehicle for this year’s giveaway, as ongoing supply chain disruptions affecting parts inventories caused what would normally be a summer project for the Collision Clinic team to become a race against the clock, once a suitable vehicle was finally purchased.
Wells said that despite the challenge to make it happen, she is happy to have been able to brighten up the holidays for at least one person this season.
“We all feel very warm when we know that we’ve helped somebody,” said Wells. “It’s very humbling, to say the least.”
Prior to the giveaway, Ward said she had been commuting to the job she recently started via taxi or by hitching a ride with co-workers.
When she learned she was about to have that burden lifted off of herself and her children, she was overwhelmed to say the least.
“I was at work when I got the phone call, and I fell to the floor crying,” said Ward. “And I cried for about three hours afterwards, ’cause it was just surreal.”
Ward told reporters that she couldn’t wait to take her kids for a spin in their new ride.
“To know that they do this every year, on their own dime and their own time, to help somebody else is just … they deserve the cars, they do,” she said. “This is going to change everything.”
Check out Collision Clinic’s Facebook livestream of the reveal of this year’s Enriching Lives car giveaway.
