You Can Turn That Clunker Into Cash For Charity

Want to get rid of that unsightly clunker on the front lawn?

You could heave and push that old Cutlass to the junkyard, or play Santa and have it towed down Santa Claus Lane.

A new program, Cars for Charity, asks people to donate their cars to Spalding Auto Parts’ Pull & Save self-service auto part center. All proceeds go to 11 Spokane non-profit agencies.

“We’ll take any car that people want to call a junker,” said Bernadine Spalla, president of Youth Family Adult Connections of Spokane, one of the participating agencies.

The program began this fall and will run until next September, Spalla said.

So far, they’ve collected a total of $1,500 from 35 cars, she said. Donated cars range from a 1979 Honda Prelude to a 1990 Chevrolet Corsica.

Cars can be running or not, but must have all parts, a title and be clean of personal garbage, said Brenda Deaton, manager of Pull & Save. The company will tow cars for free and donate the proceeds to the charities.

Thanks to the project, more people are donating those old rumblers while the snow is falling.

“Being the end of the year, some will get a tax break,” Deaton said. “Most people (that have donated) are cheering it on. They think it’s excellent. Plus it gets rid of the car in the back yard.”

The idea came from other cities on the West and East Coasts that do similar projects, Spalla said.

In September and October, agencies started passing out flyers, letting people know about the fund-raising drive. In early December, billboards were put up at 40 locations around the city.

Next year, they’ll take a look at how profitable the program is and consider whether to run it again.

The Spokane agencies that will benefit are: Arc of Spokane, American Red Cross, Camp Fire Boys and Girls, Children’s Home Society of Washington, Eastern Washington Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Excelsior Youth Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center, Spokane Food Bank, Spokane Guilds’ School & Neuromuscular Center, United Way of Spokane County and YFA Connections.

To contact Cars for Charity, call 928-1900.

, DataTimes