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Wednesday December 23, 2020
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Who We Are Christmas car highlights holiday spirit
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Photo courtesy of Ryan Drake
This 1998 Ford Escort will be a Christmas present for a local needy family.
Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 138 December 16, 2020 JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
You might not have thought a used car would be the focus of the Christmas spirit in St. Helens, but don’t tell that to Ryan Drake. Each year, Drake, who owns Drake’s Towing in St.
Helens, looks for a way to give back to the community, especially during the Christmas holidays. Last year, Drake teamed up with Tony Cole’s Giving Tree donations campaign as a secret Santa, selecting five families and presenting $100 in gifts selected specifically for each family from a wish list. Cole unfortunately passed away earlier this year, but his spirit of giving continues throughout the community.
Drake has joined Cole’s sister in continuing the giving project. In looking for something different to give this holiday, Drake found a used 1998 Ford Escort for sale and he purchased the vehicle. “It has about 150,000 miles on it, but it runs good,” he said. “It’s a clean car that will be great for a needy family and I thought, ‘This would be a perfect car to donate.”’ Drake placed a photo of
the Ford on the towing company’s Facebook page and asked other businesses to help sponsor the Christmas car giveaway. Dr. Auto in Warren and David’s Automotive in Scappoose joined the effort offering to help check out the Ford to make sure it was ready to go. Other individual donors offered new tires, a full tank of gas and even auto insurance. Drake appreciates the community support because
it is important to help those in need, he said. “Some of their stories are heart breaking, so hopefully this will make a difference,” he said. Once the car is fixed up, Drake said he will select a name from the nominated families to receive the car as a surprise Christmas gift. “We’re going to have each sponsor pick a nominated family, put that name in a hat and choose one,” he said.
“We would like to deliver the car to the family before Christmas.” For more information, visit Drake’s Towing on Facebook. If you know of someone, an agency or business, or a group, that is making a positive difference in our community and would like to see them featured in Who We Are, email details to jruark@ countrymedia.net.
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