Last week, we gifted a car to our 217th client, a sweet young woman from Madison County named Hailey (on the right in the picture above) who works as a Special Education Paraprofessional in her local school district. Here’s her story in her own words…
I try to keep my struggles private, but this is too good not to share.
Back in August, my car broke down, leaving me with no vehicle to take my younger siblings to school or get to work. This caused a lot of tension with work and my family because I was very much having to rely on borrowing their vehicles to get to work. The car I was now driving was unreliable and it scared me half to death anytime I had to drive it further than 5 miles.
At a birthday party, my sweet Amber (her advocate, to the left in the picture above) briefly mentioned this organization called OnRamp and I told her I would look into it (but my forgetful self never did). A couple weeks later, she hit me with the “please don’t be mad at me…“ and told me that she had nominated me for OnRamp! I panicked and instantly started researching.
I discovered that OnRamp is an incredible organization that assists individuals whose circumstances weren’t favorable enough to have a vehicle. They provide support to help these individuals continue to succeed and grow by alleviating that burden.
I filled out the application and a couple weeks later I go through and complete the interview process. I knew God had good intentions with this whole experience when we got to the final question in the interview. The interviewer asked me, “How can I pray for you?” When I tell you I CRIED like a baby, I am not exaggerating. I could feel the tension and struggle lift off my shoulders.
We waited a couple weeks and I finally heard back saying that I was accepted to receive a vehicle! I just had to wait for them to find the perfect vehicle. Last week, it finally was found!
Today, we drove to the courthouse to meet the OnRamp founder and one of his awesome volunteers, and he gave use the keys to my brand new (to me) car!! He asked me where the first place I was going to drive my new car to was, I panicked and said “to sonic to get a drink with my sister” Well let me tell you, that was the best Diet Coke I’ve ever had because I drove my new car to get it!!
Today, I was met with so much generosity, which showed me that there are still kind and compassionate people in our world. I am truly blessed by OnRamp, Amber, my momma, and everyone else who is always there to help and support me.
Our clients are some of the most deserving, most inspiring people we know. If you’d like to help us serve more wonderful women like Hailey, please consider participating in our upcoming Drive with OnRamp fundraiser April 5th at Top Golf! We are looking for businesses and private donors to help us raise $60,000 through purchasing bays at this event. See the sponsorship menu below. By underwriting a bay, you enable us to gift reliable vehicles to more hard-working local clients this year.
All sponsorships include publicity for businesses in social media and print. Gold and silver sponsorships include one or two bays along with dinner and play for you and your family, friends, or staff. Bronze sponsorships include publicity but not bays. If your business, church, organization, family, or friend group can sponsor one or more bays, please email Stephanie Mason at StephanieM@onramptx.org. And please spread the word to others. We hope to have sponsors for all 60 bays!
Finally, if you our your business can donate an item to our silent auction for this event, please let email Stephanie at the address above. We’re looking for gift certificates to great restaurants, unique experiences, autographed sports memorabilia, fun household items, fine beverages, jewelry, service credits, and more.
