As a business owner, I am acutely aware that my sphere of influence gives me a great potential to directly impact these dreary statistics of unemployment, underemployment and long term unemployment.
Although the most recent labor report focuses on the 204,000 jobs created in October and highlights the federal shut-down as contributing 800,000 to that 7.3%, there’s a more telling human story behind those numbers: More of us are dropping out of the middle class as we are unable to make ends meet or as we fall through the cracks without any safety net.
It’s easy to feel that there’s little to nothing we can do to stem these forces.
Over the next few weeks, I will remind those of us in Colorado of something we CAN do—we can all encourage our peeps to get involved with Colorado Gives Day on December 10, 2013 from 12 a.m . – Midnight.
This Week’s Feature: Good Neighbor Garage
…a non-profit that has a unique, multiplier impact on your giving.
Good Neighbor Garage’s Denver car charity mission is to serve Colorado’s working poor by providing much-needed, reliable, low-cost transportation. Good Neighbor Garage is motivated to show concretely the love of Christ by providing and servicing safe and reliable donated cars to working families in need.
These donated vehicles empower these families to have a shot at gaining or maintaining full-time employment. Research shows that car ownership by low-income individuals results in more hours worked, increased earnings, as well as a decrease in dependency on welfare programs.
For many Coloradoans the lack of affordable, dependable transportation is a major stumbling block to full-time employment opportunities. One chief advantage of donating cars to the Good Neighbor Garage charity is that these cars remain in our Colorado community and directly impact lives by helping a Colorado low-income family work for a better future. When you help a fellow Coloradoan by donating your vehicle you will get a tax break and directly change a life.
Good Neighbor Garage (GNG) offers another way to impact organizations you care about. For a select number of Colorado non-profits, GNG will accept their donated vehicles and then donate a portion of the proceeds back to that non-profit.
This is a terrific win-win-win-win:
> Your donated car or cash helps lower those burgeoning national unemployment numbers;
> Your donated car or cash helps a family gain or retain a job and lowers welfare program costs;
> You could help your favorite non-profit;
> You could be eligible for both a tax deduction AND a Colorado Enterprise Zone tax credit.
Contact me directly via the comments if you’d like Good Neighbor Garage to consider your non-profit.
Next Week: How you can impact underemployment
Toolkit:
Put Colorado Gives Day on your calendar and be sure to give to your favorite non-profit. Contact Good Neighbor Garage or email the program manager at info@gngdenver.org if you’d like to donate a vehicle. If you know someone who needs a vehicle, call us and speak to our GNG program coordinator.
Good Neighbor Garage
9200 W. 44th Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
720-941-5897
