Amanda and Jordan Fuchs (center) hold their twin month-old babies, Sevin and Wylder, as they get the keys to a 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan from Mike Todd (at right) of Todd’s Garage. Lion Bill Todd (at left), Mike’s retired dad, was on hand for the car giveaway in a program he started. It’s the 49th vehicle the Lions Club has given away since 2014. Photo by Neil Farrell
The Morro Bay Lions Club recently gave away its 49th free vehicle and this one went to help a growing family with two little babies.
Lions Club members gathered July 13 at Todd’s Garage in Morro Bay to award a 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan that was donated by an elderly Morro Bay woman who no longer drives.
It was bought new with 2 miles on it, explained Mike Todd, owner of Todd’s Garage who along with his father Bill Todd started the car giveaway program in 2014. Mike Todd said the lady who donated the van had only put 45,000 miles on it in 20 years. “It wasn’t driven much,” he said.
The crew at Todd’s Garage went through the van and changed the belts and hoses and had it smogged and detailed before giving it to Amanda and Jordan Fuchs, who are newlyweds with twin 1-month-old babies — Sevin and Wylder.
The Los Osos residents have gone through a rough patch including homelessness, drug use and jail but Jordan said they’ve survived it and the new van will help them immensely.
He explained that they met while sleeping on the City Hall steps in San Luis Obispo. He’d been on the wrong side of the law for most of his life, he explained. “I was in prison for most of my adult life,” said the 45-year old. “I was at the end of my rope.”
When he met Amanda, he said his mother was fighting cancer and her wish was to see him turn his life around. He lost his mother and grandmother in the same week, a double blow that hurt but somehow helped him heal.
He said he gave up drugs and has been sober for 2 years now. Amanda has also turned her life around. She has two other children, he said.
They slept in a vehicle for a time. She now has a job and he’s working too, and they’ve been staying with a friend in Los Osos.
The twins came along just a month ago, and the van will allow the family to get around safely. He plans to be there for the twins, something he wasn’t able to do for his other two children both now adults.
The van, Lion Ray McKelvey said, was donated by his 93-year-old neighbor, Barbara Jamison, who lost her husband a few years ago and no longer drives.
“It was the perfect car for this couple,” McKelvey said.
Fuchs said the vehicle is a dream come true for them. “The Lions Club has been a big help,” he said. Amanda has been volunteering with the Lions Club for a while and he started volunteering too at the Monday Night Community Dinners at the Vets Hall that the Club has been organizing for the past 11 years.
Information about the Lions Club Car Giveaway Program including application forms is posted online at: morrobaylions.org. Other Club programs are also posted on the website.
The car giveaway is open to just about anyone who needs reliable transportation. There’s an application process including an interview, and a committee goes through the applications and picks someone to receive a vehicle every 3 months (quarterly).
The Fuchs are among several families that have been awarded vehicles since the program was founded by Bill Todd through the Community Resource Center and the Lions Club Foundation. Mike Todd, who took over the garage when Bill retired, has been involved since the start as well and has kept it going, with the shop doing the mechanical work and often finding the vehicles too.
They accept donations of vehicles from anyone who finds himself or herself with an extra car, often after the death of a spouse. Other donors have given their car to the Lions instead of using it for a trade-in when they’ve purchased a new vehicle.
The Club issues a receipt for the donation at Blue Book value and it’s tax deductible.
They also accept cash donations that are used to buy parts, and to pay for things like a smog check and in some cases to purchase vehicles to then give away.
Recipients must insure the vehicle, promise to maintain it, and pay the annual DMV registration.
As for criteria, one has to have a legitimate need for reliable transportation and being a volunteer and giving back to the community in some capacity is favored as well.
The Car Giveaway Program is available to folks who reside in Morro Bay, Los Osos, Cayucos, San Luis Obispo and Atascadero.
