Five Kane County veterans awarded with refurbished vehicles: ‘That’s a blessing’

Five Kane County veterans recently received fully refurbished vehicles from the Project Spark initiative at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Elgin resident and U.S. Army veteran Jason Shanahan hitched a ride to the Soldier Field event with a fellow veteran and drove himself home in his newly gifted Jeep Cherokee.

“I was in shock,” Shanahan said. “I’m on a fixed income, so to get a car like that where I didn’t have to pay for a title... that’s a blessing.”

Shanahan, an active member of veterans organizations and leader of the local color guard, had been borrowing his father’s vehicle to get to and from meetings and color guard events. Thanks to Project Spark, he now has his own ride, which he already used to transport equipment and three of his fellow color guard members to the Fourth of July parade in Elgin.

Shanahan said the work Project Spark does is important because so many veterans face transportation barriers, and not many organizations address the issue.

“There is a huge lack of that kind of thing. Outside of the VA or veterans assistance programs, there’s not a whole lot of things that veterans know about that could help them,” Shanahan said. “I think that’s an awesome way to go about it, because a lot of veterans need that kind of help.”

Project Spark was founded in 2018 by Midas, in partnership with Napa Auto Parts and other charitable foundations to provide safe and reliable vehicles to veterans and their families who need access to transportation.

The initiative works with private donors and charities to obtain vehicles for donation. Participating Midas locations assess and repair vehicles before giving them to veterans.

The work is done in kind by Midas with parts donated by NAPA. The recipients are only responsible for insurance and registration.

Six Midas locations in the Chicago suburbs helped refurbish the vehicles given away during a July 2 ceremony.

Midas worked with the Kane County Veteran’s Assistance Commission to identify veterans in need of access to transportation.

The Kane County recipients included Shanahan and Robert “Tyler” Misla of Elgin, James Church of West Dundee, Jacob Frascona of North Aurora, and Amy Bergeron of Aurora.

Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission superintendent Jake Zimmerman said this was the commission’s first time working with Project Spark. He said it was a fantastic experience that he hopes will for years to come.

“They genuinely cared about people,” Zimmerman said of Project Spark.

Zimmerman said transportation barriers can lead to much bigger problems if a family doesn’t have a way to get to the doctor, work, or school. So providing a family with access to transportation means a lot more than just a vehicle.

“Barriers to transportation is a huge, snowballing issue,” Zimmerman said. “Transportation is such a huge thing and it’s not something a lot of organizations help drastically with, so to know that this program exists, and to know how passionate Midas is… It’s pretty cool to see that."

Church, an Army veteran and single father of three, received a Cadillac DTS.

Bergeron, an Army veteran and single mother of six, received an Inifinti QX56.

Frascona, a Marine Corps. veteran, received a Lincoln MKX.

Misla, an Army veteran and single father of two, received a Honda CRV.

Project Spark hosts about a dozen giveaways per year, all over North America. The program has grown considerably since 2018, donating a record 17 vehicles so far this year.

“I think it’s a very noteworthy and awesome organization that is helping veterans and I hope it expands even further,” Shanahan said.