FEATURE

Hope for Heroes: Shops Help Veterans Get Back on the Road

by Joel Gausten

The past year has been a time of hardship for many, but it has been particularly difficult for our military veterans. Faced with financial and logistical struggles that have only increased during the pandemic, many vets have been forced to forego needed vehicle maintenance and repairs. This often prohibits them from having safe transportation to perform essential tasks and fulfill employment obligations. Fortunately, a growing number of shops from the AASP-MN community have stepped up to help.

Late last year, AASP-MN Mechanical Advisory Committee member Dan Gleason (Pro-Tech Auto Repair, Corcoran) encouraged the association to put the call out to members to do what they could to support the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV), a non-profit organization that has been helping veterans and their families defeat homelessness and other life crises for more than 30 years. For Gleason (who also regularly volunteers for the veterans support organization Hues for Heroes; facebook.com/HuesForHeroes), being active with MACV enables the Pro-Tech Auto Repair team to lift the burden of vehicle repair and maintenance off the shoulders of American heroes so they can focus on “real things that matter” – employment, housing and everyday living.

“Car maintenance, getting an oil change and anything like that is the last thing on Earth that these veterans are going to want to deal with.”

Gleason adds that MACV is always in need of industry members who can provide services ranging from doing oil changes and replacing light bulbs to working on vehicles in need of major TLC.

Steve King, operations manager for Fix Auto’s Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove locations, answered AASP-MN's call and jumped at the chance to help heroes in need. Earlier this year, King and his crew (along with help from TGK Automotive in Brooklyn Park and LKQ) repaired a 2014 Ford Taurus that had been donated to MACV for a veteran’s use.

“My dad and all my uncles were in the service,” he says. “I have a passion for helping the veterans and thanking them for their service. I do whatever I can to go above and beyond to make sure we take care of them and provide them with something they need to help with their lives.”

Getting involved in MACV has provided Fix Auto with a new source of activity and high morale during COVID-19.

“It’s not hard for us to do it, and if the impact serves people within our community, we’d be happy to do so,” comments Fix Auto Franchise Partner Matthew Feehan, immediate past president of AASP-MN. “We have a little more time than we have normally with fewer cars driving on the roads and fewer customers, so we wouldn’t be opposed to doing this again.”

In addition to providing housing assistance and legal services to its clients, MACV has an employment team devoted to placing veterans – including those who could have served as mechanics in the military – with businesses that can help them get back into the workforce.

“Employment is one of the biggest barriers we see from our clients,” MACV Operations and Property Manager Nate Martineau explains. “A lot of that has to do with them not having a vehicle or the means to purchase or fix one to get to work. Our employment team really works with the veterans and shops to get their vehicles repaired so they are able to get to a job and start earning a steady income to get back on their feet again. We appreciate AASP-MN’s work to facilitate the connection between its member shops and MACV when a need arises.”

For more information on the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV), please contact MACV Employment Supervisor Ryan Schaefer at rschaefer@ mac-v.org or (612) 358-2729.

The team at Pro-Tech Auto Repair (above) recently worked on a Dodge Grand Caravan (top right) for a veteran in need.