RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Getting in a car and driving to work, out to eat or to a game is something many of us take for granted, but there are many families and individuals who don’t have access to a car.

Wheels 4 Hope is a local non-profit organization with a mission to provide safe, reliable, affordable vehicles to people who need them.

Their team fondly refers to this as a “car blessing” and they give away nearly 200 cars each year.

Every month, CBS 17 picks a different local charity to raise money and awareness by way of our 3-Degree Guarantee and Wheels4Hope was the charity for July 2023.

Each day when the CBS 17 Storm Team gets the next day’s forecast correct within three degrees, we donate $100 to that charity. At the end of the month, all the money raised is totaled and presented to that month’s group.

Since 2000, Wheels 4 Hope has placed over 2000 people in vehicles.

For recent recipient Ronald, it’s a big deal. He has spent several years working on personal growth and improvement. He recently graduated from a life skills program, and he believes the car will change his life.

Ronald says, “Working 7 hours a day, and then having to walk a mile after getting off a bus just to get home … this means I don’t have to do that no more.”

Wheels 4 Hope Executive Director Lisa Brusca says, “We have people that this is their first vehicle, and they’ve been without transportation their whole life. I’ve seen how it impacts people’s lives. Impacts their children’s lives… how they get to school, how they interact with their teachers, not just jobs, but getting to church, getting to see activities that they couldn’t before, it just really changes people’s lives.”

Reliable transportation is a key factor in getting and staying out of poverty and Wheels 4 Hope accepts any and all vehicle donations regardless of condition, even if the vehicle is not drivable.

The process of donating a vehicle is very simple and also tax deductible.

To learn more about how you can help those in need across central North Carolina through Wheels4Hope, visit their website here.