car on fire_05

Image by gregor_y via Flickr

Not too long ago I wrote a post about the size of the box that was used to ship an item that was no bigger than a quarter. I mentioned that because I was a Republican I didn’t get into the whole green movement, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment as you can see by reading the comments on that article. In the comments Tarheel challenged me by asking me this:

Wait! It’s in the Republican rule book that you can’t be concerned with “Green” issues? Does that mean you don’t have any interest in reducing dependence on foreign oil, or finding ways to reduce the material being hauled into landfills?

I honestly don’t understand Republican opposition to the idea of Global Warming. It’s pretty much a fact, given the data that’s been collected. While the cause is not certain, reducing those emissions that theoretically could contribute doesn’t seem all that unreasonable to me. But I’m funny that way.

and I went on to tell him that indeed I do recycle but I forgot to mention that I once donated a car to charity.

We have all seen the billboards that say donate cars for kids and I suspect many of us glance up at them and then drive on and forget about it. Last years ‘cash for clunkers’ rebate really hit charities who accept donated cars hard. Car donation is really very easy but if you don’t know how to donate your car you might not think about doing it. And you should because when you donate your car it gets sold for the highest value possible and then those proceeds are used to help kids who go without. Most places will even tow your non working car away for free and you get to write it off on your taxes. It’s a win-win all the way around.

I donated my ex husband’s van to our local fire department. It was during our divorce and he didn’t want the vehicle for reasons only he understands. I didn’t need the van but I had to get it off the property we were selling at the time. Because our divorce was rather nasty he refused to move it, he just gave it to me and made it my problem. So when the fire department mentioned they took vehicles for donation I was all over it. Imagine my surprise, and my ex husband’s, to learn that the van actually worked (though it really was in bad shape) and that the fire department was going to use it to train fire fighters about putting out car fires. I got to donate something, I got the write off and I got to watch my soon to be ex husband’s van set on fire. It was cathartic to say the least.

While I don’t recommend that everyone donate their cars in the hopes that someone lights them on fire I do hope that anyone with an old vehicle considers donating it for kids. It can do a world of good.

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