When Mom’s 29-year-old Ford decided to stop running and start costing more than it’s worth to repair, we decided to donate it to charity. After doing some research, we landed on Disabled American Veterans. Both of Mom’s husbands had been Marines, one of whom had lifetime injuries while serving, and many others in our family have served, so it fit our family’s sensibilities nicely.
If you go to the DAV website (dav.org), you’ll see they use a registered 501(c)(3) charity called careasy.org to handle their vehicle donations, working or not.
They made it really easy. Fill out the online form with your vehicle registration info, they text/call to schedule a pick-up at no charge, and provide you with a donation receipt after. Once the vehicle sells, you receive a final receipt for tax purposes, usually within 30 days, based on whether it went for under or over $500.
The cool thing is they also handle donations for many other charities if you prefer. Here are just a few:
- Autism Speaks
- Meals on Wheels
- American Diabetes Association
- St Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- Best Friends
- San Diego Wildlife Alliance
- Guide Dogs of America
- The Writers Guild Foundation
So if you have any cars or other vehicles you don’t need anymore, running or not, and want to help some great causes, check them out!
