Dingle Family Continues Journey with Their Recycled Ride smiling when he first saw his 2013 Nissan Versa for the first time six years ago. As part of Autobody News’ “After “It was so miraculous, I still the Donation” series, we focus on can’t believe it happened even now,” families, individuals and nonprofit Dingle said. “The people at Mike’s organizations who give away cars Auto Body and the Rose family are through NABC’s Recycled Rides incredible, because they make their Program. benevolence program a priority evMike’s Auto Body is a leader ery year. After receiving these blesswhen it comes to philanthropy, and ings, I realized that I now have a renationally known for giving people sponsibility to help others—to pay it a hand up as opposed to a hand out forward.” through its Benvolence Program. In Since receiving the vehicle, December, the California Bay Area April and Eugene Dingle have been MSO, owned by the Rose family, doing everything they can to give gave four families “nearly new” back to their community, completely refurbished cars—bringand their Nissan Versa has ing its total number of donations to 100. played a significant role in Many of these recipients have their journey. decided to pay the benevolence for“Back then, I was the ward and help others in need, and chaplain assistant at Moffett the Dingle family is a prime examField in Sunnyvale, CA, so ple of the power of giving. I had a 1.5-hour commute In November 2015, Mike’s from our home in Suisun Auto Body presented a 2013 NisCity,” Eugene said. “I was san Versa to Staff Sgt. Eugene Din- The Dingle family is still driving the 2013 Nissan Versa also studying to become a chaplain at Gateway Semgle from Travis Air Force Base and they received in 2015 as part of Mike’s Auto Body’s inary in Fremont, and runhis wife April as part of its annual Benevolence Program ning the religious education programs at Travis Air Force Base at the same time.” In December 2018, Eugene transferred to Maryland to join the 175th War Field Wing in Middle River. He The following dealerships are eager to serve your needs. now proudly wears two hats—one Call your local Subaru collision parts specialist today! as an active member of the Air Force and another as an assistant chaplain. Think Genuine Subaru Parts. It’s a role he loves because it allows We’re W ’ focused f d on getting tti you the Genuine Subaru Parts him to help people as they navigate you need — fast and competitively priced. Put us to the test on your next Subaru repair or service job. through their lives in the military. “It can be a stressful existence and a lot of what I do involves criARIZONA LOUISIANA sis management,” Eugene said. “I Subaru Superstore Baldwin Subaru offer the men and women I help Covington of Chandler with 100% confidentiality, which (888) 310-9605 PHX Metro East is something they appreciate. We (985) 892-2902 (877) 443-3239 do everything we can to keep these (985) 273-3273 Fax (480) 268-2402 Local people in the Air Force and this can Mon.-Fri. 7:30-6; Sat. 8-3 Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. 7-5 be a very stressful job, but the reparts@baldwinmotors.com WholesaleEast@ShopSubaru.com wards are many.” TEXAS When Mike’s Auto Body gives Subaru Superstore anyone a vehicle, they first re-conHuffines Subaru of Surprise Corinth dition every part of the car. With PHX Metro West (888) 928-2978 112,000 miles now on the Dingles’ (844) 378-9875 (940) 321-2679 (623) 232-7202 Local 2013 Nissan Versa, the vehicle is (940) 497-2920 Fax (623) 232-7303 Fax still going strong after a few treks Mon.-Fri. 7-7; Sat. 8-5 Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. 7-5 that tested its ability to go the disles.hickman@huffines.net WholesaleWest@ShopSubaru.com tance. “When we moved to Maryland, we drove there with the Versa and a by Ed Attanasio
presentation on Veterans Day at the company’s Fairfield, CA, location. At the time, Eugene was a member of the 60th AMXS Squadron and had to commute to and from his assignment at Moffett Air Base as well as get his children to and from school. Thanks to their completely refurbished vehicle from Mike’s Auto Body, the Dingle family was able to function normally. In addition, the Rose family gave the Dingle family one year of insurance coverage and a trunk full of gifts for the children. Eugene said he couldn’t stop
van that we purchased. It was a little scary with my wife, the kids and a dog and it was wintertime,” Eugene said. “My friends told us take the southern route to avoid the snow and the mountains, and that was good advice. It took us six days to get there.” Before moving to Maryland, Eugene and April donated their time generously to Mike’s Auto Body, which included walking in the Veterans Day Parade in Fairfield, CA. In addition, Eugene did the invocation at the Veterans Day presentation and April sang the National Anthem at the 2016 Christmas presentation in Antioch. “We feel like we’re part of the family at Mike’s Auto Body now. Sal Contreras and the Rose family have been wonderful to us,” April said. “We’ve become good friends with the people at Mike’s—they’re truly special!” The car now gets Eugene to and from his job—another 1.5-hour commute—while April uses the van to transport her children to their activities. “The car is a workhorse and we wouldn’t be in the position we are now without it,” Eugene said. “One of my daughters, Ariel, is now playing competitive basketball and volleyball, and we are also taking care of our parents who live in Washington, D.C. My father Lovair is 85 [former Air Force]; and we are also taking care of my wife’s parents [David, 78, and Carlisle, 76]. The car gets us to where they live, so we can take them to our appointments, etc.” One random and wonderful event happened as a result of the benevolence car, Eugene said. “Our little pug named Bishop was an escape artist and one day he ran off and we figured we’d never see him again,” he said. “But, because of the media coverage we got through Recycled Rides and Mike’s Benevolence Program, a veterinarian all the way in New Jersey knew my name when they found Bishop and scanned his microchip. We didn’t update the contact information, so if they hadn’t known our name from the press coverage, we would have never been reunited with Bishop!”
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