Neighbors left in the wake of strangers mess

As you ring in 2023, please consider helping a very deserving family.

A few days before Christmas, a family living in the upstairs of a duplex, struggling to make ends meet and find some sense of security following significant challenges, hears a loud crash outside. They hurry to the window, to look down below to see a BMW SUV crashed into a vehicle next door with air bags engaged. They dial 911 and rush down to help. The driver is able to exit the car without injury. Upon looking at the scene more carefully, they notice that not only did the driver crash into the car a driveway past their home, the driver first crashed into the side of their vehicle, pushing it back 6 feet and onto the curb, with damages resulting in their insurance company totaling out their car. The driver was intoxicated with a Blood Alcohol Level 3 times the legal limit. At no point did the driver show remorse or concern for their actions or the consequences accrued on others. The driver lives in a multi-million dollar home just down the road and although had some car damages, I imagine will not be facing a significant financial hardship.

What I can't get past is that because one individual, a community member of mine, choose to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and proceed to total another individual’s car and walk away with what I perceive to be minor inconveniences while leaving another to pay the price. A price that for the driver, appears to be minimal but leaves this family in a financial disaster. The families whose car was totaled, following insurance payout will still owe a $5,000 note on their car, have $0 towards a down payment of a new vehicle and little hope to acquiring the means to purchase a new vehicle any time in the foreseeable future.

This family works hard day in and day out to make ends meet, struggles through significant challenges with grace and is left living in a community where they feel like they are unseen and don't matter. They should not be left to pick up the pieces and burdens of our neighbor’s poor choices. Please help me show them that they are in fact important, that they do matter, and that they're not in this alone.

Let's help them get a new car and show them that our community is full of love to share with them.