The Wheel Deal
PROSPECT PARK » It may not have been an episode of “The Price is Right,” but one family received a new car Monday morning in Prospect Park. And the price was absolutely right, thanks to community support and several agencies that answered her plea.
Kristie Taylor was all tears when she saw a 2011 Mazda 6 waiting for her and her two boys at Artistic Auto Body, a donated car through the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides Program. Taylor, a U.S. Army veteran from Bedford, was involved in a car accident a few months ago that totaled her car and was tapped out with trying to get a new one to go to work and support her family.
“I’m getting a piece of my life back, for my family and for my kids,” said Taylor about her new ride. Taylor said she’s had to use her mom’s car to make the 40-minute, one-way ride to work in the past few months that since the accident. Her mother, Bea Smith, contacted their local Center for Community Action and the wheels started turning from there.
State Farm Insurance donated a pool car to the program and Artistic Auto Body did the inspection, fixed the brakes, put in a new battery and gave it a thorough cosmetic touch-up before handing over the keys to the Taylor family. Shop owner George Moore said the work was easy because it was a great car that was handed to them. Moore said he likes to do one community project a year, and sprucing up the Mazda was his way of giving back for 2017.
Even though her career in the Army was cut short in 2009 due to an injury, Taylor expressed her joy that a community hours away from her was willing to help a veteran in a time of need.
“Just to know that even though my career came to an end, it’s nice to know they care,” she said.
State Farm also provided appropriate child seating for her 3-year-old son, Kash, and 7-year-old son, Koen.
With the title handed over free and clear, the Taylors drove their new set of wheels back home to Bedford with a weight off their shoulders and a more comforting peace of mind.