BAYTOWN, Texas – A mother in need has a new car to drive around this holiday season, thanks to an auto body shop in Baytown.
Every year for the past 17 years, Bates Collision Centers has given away rehabbed cars to families who don't have their own vehicle. Employees begin rehabbing the cars in the late summer. Community members donate necessary items like six months of insurance, tires, gas cards, paint and interiors.
"We fix cars all the time, but fixing these cars is totally special for us because we're not just fixing a car and putting a car on the road, we're putting a family back on the road," Leila Bates said.
This year Bates' team presented Lynn Ponce with a rehabbed SUV. Ponce is a mother who works part-time for the Harris County Department of Education's Head Start program. Her co-workers nominated her to receive the new car.
"I was shocked," Ponce said. "When I got the call at first I thought it was a telemarketer calling me because they're like, 'Oh there's this new car.'"
In addition to her job at Head Start, Ponce is going to school to become a nurse and takes care of her 9-year-old daughter, Skyleen. For the past couple of years she has been sharing a vehicle with her father.
"It's very hard," Ponce said.
Now she has her own set of keys, and the SUV was even packed with Christmas gifts for Skyleen.
"It's a huge blessing," Ponce said.