Local Dad Receives Gift Of A New Car
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It was a Christmas gift to remember.
A local father received a present that comes with the chance at a better life.
Getting to work lately has not been easy for 27-year-old, single dad, Max Sainvelus.
He's been walking three miles from his home to the bus stop, with his 22-month-old son, Aubrey.
"I have to be up by 4 o'clock, 4:30 in order to get me and my son ready for daycare and me to go to work," Sainvelus said.
Today, that exhausting, six-mile a day routine, changed.
Sainvelus was selected in the Too Big For The Stocking Giveaway. It's an annual event run by Community Auto, which is a local car donation program that helps to provide low-income individuals with vehicles.
"I'm ecstatic, I'm happy, I'm beyond words," Sainvelus said.
"I think it will have an incredible impact. Max would like to go back to school. It would certainly give him more hours in his day so he could spend with his son and so that he could continue his education and have a better job as well," Lynne Braun-Warth with North Hills Community Outreach said.
Sainvelus is already enrolled at CCAC and he's set to begin classes in January.
Now, he'll be able to drive to school in his Toyota Camry. The car was presented to him live on KDKA-TV during Pittsburgh Today Live.
Max said when he first got the call about being picked for the new ride, he didn't believe it.
"They called me and were like, 'You're the winner.' And I was like, 'Stop playing. It's Christmas, don't be pranking me like that,'" Sainvelus said.
A trunk full of toys for little Aubrey also came with the car.
Community Auto plans to continue the giveaway for years to come, but the group needs help.
:"We're just very dependent on donations from the community, so if anybody out there is thinking of donating a car, we would love for it to go to North Hills Community Outreach and Community Auto," Braun-Warth said.
RELATED LINKS
