Millbury native and naval veteran Steven Gonzales was the recipient of a 2004 Honda Accord, a donation from Veterans Inc. and Thomas Waldron Auto Body CARSTAR, both of Worcester, Esurance and the National Auto Body Council Recylced Rides program.
WORCESTER — Millbury native Steven Gonzales said he found himself in a situation many of the country’s veteran’s are in: He needed help, but wouldn’t ask.
On Wednesday Gonzales, a regular volunteer at Veterans Inc., got the help he deserved, a permanent ride.
Veterans Inc. and Thomas Waldron Auto Body CARSTAR, both of Worcester, joined with Esurance and the National Auto Body Council Recycled Rides program to provide Gonzales with a refurbished 2004 Honda Accord.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” Gonzales said. “I think most veterans don’t want to ask for help. But I have learned that that’s the only way to get help.”
Gonzales graduated from Johnson and Wales University in 1989, after which he promptly joined the Navy. He left the service in 1992 as an E3 Culinary Specialist.
He did not see combat in Desert Storm, but joked he did not know whether or not he was involved in the war. The Navy did not tell him and his shipmates, deployed aboard a submarine tender (supply ship), where they were when war was declared.
“It was kind of weird … just hearing over the intercom that we were in a state of war,” he said. “The first thing I thought about was my children.”
John Person, director of operations for Veterans Inc, the non-profit agency located at Salisbury and Grove streets, said the decision about who would receive the car was made by a selection committee. Gonzales easily stood out among the 70 or so applicants who had applied to the agency for a car as part of an ongoing program to supply veterans in need with cars, he said.
“Transportation is the first step to independence and self sufficiency,” Person said. “Steve really stood out, as is often the case — one person usually rises to the top.”
In addition to being needs based, Person said Gonzales showed a level of commitment to his fellow veterans by volunteering through Veterans Inc. to drive other veterans to appointments and events.
Gonzales was fulfilling that role on a full-time basis before recently returning to school at Quinsigamond Community College to study manufacturing technology. He cut back, but still helps out, Person said. In addition, he serves as treasurer to a veterans’ group on the QCC campus.
“Everything he is doing, the extra curricular activities, changing his life, holding a leadership role at Quinsigamond, it just made sense that Steve would be chosen,” Person said.
While Veterans Inc. already has a program for accepting and refurbishing used cars for Veterans, this time the agency was the one receiving help, via a national program of the National Auto Body Council.
The council is a business advocacy group that promotes community activities undertaken by auto body shops across the country, according to its representative, Linda Sulkala. The agency has been in existence for 20 years, working with Habitat for Humanity and Katrina relief efforts, among other programs.
“It is an opportunity for members to do something that exemplifies the professionalism and integrity of collision repair industry,” she said.
In 2007, there was a call for more activity on a local level, and Recycled Rides was born. The trademarked program teams its member auto body shops up with the donors of used cars and local charities to find worthy recipients of those vehicles, she said.
Esurance, according to its local representative Davis Powell has donated about 50 cars to Recycled Rides. Gonzales’ Honda was the first time a donation has been made in Massachusetts.
“The car was in an accident and, rather than being sold at auction as-is, it was donated to this cause,” Powell said.
Sulkala said member body shops like Waldron’s, work with their vendors and employees to repair the cars for recipients.
The car had been rear-ended and needed a new truck, taillights and replacement panels not associated with the accident, according to Bob Waldron, owner of Thomas Waldron Auto Body CARSTAR.
Waldron was quick to credit three of his employees, John Tebo, Wilson Rodas and Bruce Tayi, who volunteered their time to repair the car. Overall, the trio spent about 113 hours making car road worthy.
Gonzales’s car was his businesses first time taking part in the Recycled Rides Program, Waldron said.
“It was a very good experience for us,”Waldron said. “I got to meet a lot of great people. Steve is a great recipient to receive this. It’s getting my juice flowing. We have a few more locations and will be doing this again. This was my first time, but definitely not my last.”
Gonzales said he was grateful for the amount of people who stepped forward to help a veteran.
“Especially with everything going on in the country right now,” he said. “There are a lot of veterans who need help and they deserve it. It’s just nice to see so many people step forward to help veterans.”
Source: MassLive Worcester http://masslive.com/news/worcester
