CHESAPEAKE, Va. — There are lots of stresses and sacrifices that come with military life, and transportation can be a big one.
On Thursday, in Chesapeake, the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) hosted an event to give 10 refurbished cars to military families in the area. It’s a part of their 100-year celebration.
U.S. Navy and Air Force service members were chosen to get their new rides after being nominated by the area’s Armed Services YMCA, according to a spokeswoman.
This is a glimpse into the lives of the people getting the cars:
- A Navy sailor who lives in Portsmouth, 20 miles from his station in Norfolk. He’s been relying on rideshares to get to work, and visit his mother in North Carolina.
- A Navy sailor who was just granted custody of his 15-year-old sister. Their family’s car is old, and has started to regularly break down.
- A Navy sailor who has three children under the age of 3, and whose mother-in-law is moving in with them to help with childcare.
- A Navy sailor who is living with his wife and a roommate. He gets to work by carpooling, but without a car, it’s been difficult for his wife to get to job interviews and visit her sick father.
- A Navy sailor who just welcomed a baby boy, and needs to be able to get him to doctors’ visits.
- A Navy sailor with four children ages 9 and younger, who shares one vehicle with her husband. That car got totaled in an accident a few months ago.
- A Navy sailor with a second job who is a single parent of a 2-year-old boy. He’s been using rideshares to get to work, and take classes.
- A Navy sailor who has four children, two of them with special needs, which sometimes means the family has to take overnight trips to Washington, D.C.
- A Navy sailor who is currently deployed, whose former car overheated and doesn’t run anymore. This will be a welcome-home gift.
- An Air Force airman who has one car, and a family of five. Two of his children need to go to the doctor’s office on a weekly basis.
USAA worked with NABC Recycled Rides and Caliber Collision to give away the cars.
The partnership is giving away 46 vehicles across the country this year, and since 2012, has donated more than 500 cars to military service members and veterans.
The next cars they plan to donate will go to families in California, North Carolina, Arizona, and Texas, a spokeswoman said.
