Family given car, but wins don't stop there

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 25, 2009 -- MILFORD -- A local car dealership's promotional contest to award one lucky family a new Toyota Corolla led to an unintended consequence that will provide reliable transportation to a woman who has multiple sclerosis.
"One winner turned out to be two winners," said Bob Crabtree, owner of Colonial Toyota in Milford. The dealership hosted a competition over the summer, asking for letters about deserving people in need of new wheels. From the 1,200 entries received, a panel of three judges selected the O'Shea family of Milford last month.

It was the second time in four years that Terese and John O'Shea had received the gift of a vehicle. In 2005, Milford's Concerned Citizens for People with Disabilities, spearheaded by Anthony Candido, raised money to purchase a 1998 Ford Econoline for the O'Sheas. The van allowed them to transport their 16-year-old son Sean, who had cerebral palsy and scoliosis, to medical appointments and family outings.
Mary King, Sean's teacher at East Shore Middle School, wrote to Colonial Toyota nominating the O'Sheas saying they could use a smaller car because they were driving around in the handicapped-access van that they no longer needed since Sean's unexpected death last April. The O'Sheas received their new $17,000 car shortly before Sean's birthday Oct. 10 and told Colonial Toyota staff they would gladly donate their van to the contest runner-up, Fran Walczak of Newtown, who has used a wheelchair since 2001.

Colonial Toyota agreed to recondition and modify the O'Shea's van before transferring ownership to Walczak. "I had new tires put on it and we're in the process of making it handicapped accessible for driving," Crabtree said.
John O'Shea said the van is in excellent condition, but his family no longer needs the specially equipped vehicle. "Somebody who needs it should have it," he said.
Terese O'Shea said it served them well and they wanted to "pay it forward."
"It allowed Sean and us the freedom to get him out of the house and go to family events and the beach and give him some joy. Without it, it would have been a difficult time and life for him. Other than school, he would have been stuck in the house," John O'Shea said.

Walczak had been driving a 1995 Ford Windstar that had seen better days. Over the last few years everything that could go wrong did, she said. Last year, it required about $7,000 worth of work that Walczak could ill afford on her limited disability income, and its heater no longer worked. "I didn't have the money to find out why the heater wasn't working. I don't have any resources. "I didn't know what I was going to do this winter," Walczak said.
To make matters worse, her van had begun to overheat and it also required manual cranking of the wheelchair ramp.
Walczak and the O'Sheas have not met but in a radio interview, John O'Shea told her, "Fran, your cranking days are over." Not only does their van have an automatic lift, it also has air conditioning and heating, he said.

colonial toyota     retail auto profit     retailautoprofit