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‘A Christmas Miracle’: Bakersfield family awarded a donated car for the holidays

By Jackson Stoever

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    BURLINGTON, Vermont (WPTZ) — A Christmas miracle was provided for a mother of two who has had no way of getting around until now. Good News Garage in Burlington has gifted Amy Verchereau a new set of wheels.

“It is an overwhelming feeling right now. We did not expect this to happen,” said Verchereau.

It was her light at the end of the tunnel after a tragedy last March, when the place her family was living in burned down, leaving them to find shelter wherever they could.

“We didn’t have insurance. We lost everything.”

On Monday morning, Good News Garage, a nonprofit car donation organization based in Burlington, gave Verchereau the keys to her own Toyota Rav 4 for Christmas to help her and her family get a fresh start.

Thanks to the donation, Verchereau’s kids will be able to go to day care and her partner, Erich Switser, will be able to get to work.

“It has been a long and tough year, so this is truly a blessing to get this as fast as we did,” said Switser.

Good News Garage has spent the last few decades awarding donated cars to folks who need it most. The nonprofit wants you to know that it is always accepting vehicle donations and hopes you will consider bringing your old rides down to the garage.

It says hundreds of Vermonters are stuck without reliable transportation.

“My favorite part about the whole thing is being able to give the cars and watching how excited they get to have this reliable transportation,” said Wanda Robar, program manager at Good News Garage. “Good News Garage is going to stay on board and help her make sure there are no repairs that she cannot afford to do. It truly makes a difference in people’s lives.”

Verchereau says she is looking forward to seeing what exciting opportunities this new year will bring.

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