At OnRamp, we share the love of Jesus by gifting reliable vehicles to hard-working people in need who, in most cases, are the actual heroes of their stories. That was on full display last week when we were privileged to donate a Honda Accord to a Ukrainian refugee and her son on Thursday, and a wheelchair-accessible ramp van to a disabled local coach on Friday.
Kateryna (left) receiving her keys from OnRamp volunteer Amy Loggins.
Kateryna fled war-torn Karkiv with her four-year-old son in October, seeking refuge here in Texas. Sadly, her husband has been unable to join them. His service is required back home as the conflict rages. Kateryna is a university trained urban planner and architect, but due to immigration regulations and the language barrier, had to take a job flipping hamburgers when she arrived. Fortunately, leaders at the A&M Church of Christ came alongside her and helped her find a much better job in architecture as well as a safe place to live here in BCS. However, she struggled to get to work, to English classes, or to her son’s school due to lack of a vehicle. College Station is a hard place to walk in 100 degree July! When her church nominated her to OnRamp, we immediately accepted her based on her incredible work ethic and determination to go to the ends of the earth to raise her son in safety. Last Thursday it was our honor to gift this deserving woman a reliable sedan. Now we will support her throughout the coming year, praying especially for a righteous and swift end to the war so that she and her husband can be reunited.
Supporters, staff, donors, and mechanics gathering around Calvin and Sabrina to pray for their safety and blessing in the new van. We pray with all clients who allow us to.
As many of you know, the wheelchair-accessible ramp van that we gifted to Rudder High School Coach Calvin Hill last year has broken down and the ramp system cannot be repaired. The van had to be replaced. When we learned this bad news three weeks ago, our bank account was worryingly low. Ramp vans are not cheap, so we were in a pickle. But that’s when our community came together to support this deserving man and his selfless wife, Sabrina. Over the course of one week, over 90 donors, most of whom were totally new to OnRamp, helped us raise the $15,000 needed to purchase a replacement. Some could only give $10, and yet it all added up. On Friday of last week, we gifted Coach a newer, much better van. Coach went from a van with 130,000 miles on it to this fully loaded Honda Odyssey air-ride ramp van with only 40,000 miles. It's perfect. It's so much nicer than what he had. It reminds me that God likes to give His children extravagant gifts. Coach continues to make remarkable progress towards walking again (he’s currently being fitted for custom carbon fiber legs!) Now he won’t be held back by lack of a vehicle.
Thank you Bryan/College Station for allowing us the privilege to bless these hard-working clients with the gift of FREEDOM that a reliable vehicle provides! This is what the love of Jesus looks like in action.