20 families in need given cars

Monday, September 1, 2008

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The vehicles were given to 20 working families.

TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- Labor Day is a holiday set aside to honor working people and Monday some working people received a special gift -- a used vehicle.

What looked to be a used car lot represented a new start for 20 working families. The families were given the cars by Wheels of Success. The recipients of the cars also received $50 worth of gas and a AAA membership for a year.

Keterri Williams, 40, a mother of three, has been without a car for a year.

"It got repoed (repossessed). I couldn't afford it anymore," Williams said. "I lost my job after working there for two and a half years; just one day the lady just closed down the business."

Williams now works at "Miracles Outreach" where she cares for foster kids, but she often has to catch rides to work.

Wheels of Success is a program that fixes donated cars and gives them to working families. Recipients must work and must be referred by a social service agency. Several sponsors helped Wheels of Success to fix the cars given away.

Susan Jacobs, the founder and CEO of Wheels of Success, says the program helps parents to be able to have more time for their children

"We have people spending two and three hours a day on the bus, what does that say for children when they get home late, exhausted when it could have taken 20 minutes," Jacobs said.