Recently, 10 deserving veterans and military members and their families were honored at the Armed Services YMCA in San Diego, CA, and presented with National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recycled Rides® vehicles.
All the cars were donated by USAA and were refurbished by collision repair partners Service King/Crash Champions, which repaired five of the vehicles; Certified Collision Group affiliates Auto Body of Escondido, Auto Body of Murrieta and Auto Body of San Marcos; Caliber Collision; and Fix Auto USA.
The presentation was part of USAA’s 100th anniversary celebration, through which it will gift 100 NABC Recycled Rides vehicles to military families across the country, including Nashville, Seattle, Chesapeake, Savannah, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Denver, Phoenix, Tampa, San Diego and finally San Antonio later this year.
“USAA was proud to celebrate our 100th anniversary in San Diego at the Armed Service YMCA and present vehicles to 10 deserving military families to provide them the gift of reliable transportation in commemoration of USAA’s 100th anniversary,” said Adm. John Bird, senior vice president, military affairs, USAA. “Our commitment is to serve our military members, and we are proud to help these service men and women with the gift of reliable transportation to help them along their journey. Thank you to our many partners for making this possible.”
For 100 years, USAA’s mission has served active-duty service members, veterans and their families. Recipients have been nominated by nonprofit organizations to receive a NABC Recycled Ride. With the partnership of the NABC, a nonprofit committed to serving their communities, and many in the collision repair industry, vehicles are repaired and donated to those identified as in need of reliable transportation.
The recipients included:
- USMC Staff Sgt. Timothy Riddle received a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder repaired by Service King/Crash Champions
- USMC Lance Cpl. Kelly Bimenyimana was presented a 2017 Jeep Cherokee refurbished by Service King/Crash Champions
- USMC Cpl. Jorge Cuahutencos was gifted a 2018 Toyota CH-R restored by Service King/Crash Champions
- U.S. Navy Logistics Spc. Seaman Lucio Quintero received a 2017 Chevrolet Colorado refurbished by Service King/Crash Champions
- USMC Sgt. Angelo Padilla was presented a 2020 Subaru Outback repaired by Service King/Crash Champions
- USMC veteran Lance Cpl. Jorge Ortiz received a 2017 GMC Sierra refurbished by Auto Body of Escondido
- U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Camille Islas was gifted a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe repaired by Auto Body of San Marcos
- U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacaranda Harvey received a 2019 Mazda CX-5 Touring restored by Auto Body of Escondido
- U.S. Navy Airman Abigail Garcia was presented a 2020 Jeep Cherokee refurbished by Fix Auto USA
- USMC Lance Cpl. Zachary Huffman received a 2018 Nissan Altima repaired by Caliber Collision
The NABC shared its gratefulness for USAA’s tremendous commitment to giving back to military members.
“It is exciting to join our member USAA in their 100th anniversary celebration, and grateful to all of our members Crash Champions, Fix Auto USA, Caliber Collision and Glass, and Auto Body San Marcos, Escondido and Murrieta, all Certified Collision Group affiliates, which refurbished all of today’s beautiful vehicles,” said Ben Clymer Jr., NABC board member. “We are proud to meet these military members and their families and hear their stories. We are indebted to their service to our country and are committed to helping them continue their path to independence and success with the gift of reliable transportation.”
Additional partners in the presentation included 1.800.Charity.Cars, Enterprise, Axalta, Longhouse Inventory Solutions and SafeLite, among others.
NABC Recycled Rides is a unique program in which businesses representing all facets of the collision repair industry team up to repair and donate vehicles to individuals and families in need of reliable transportation. Since the inception of the NABC Recycled Rides program in 2007, members of the NABC have donated more than 3,000 vehicles valued at some $42 million.
Source: NABC
Abby Andrews