Fifteen Deserving San Antonio Veterans Receive NABC Recycled Rides® from USAA as Part of Its Ongoing 100th Anniversary Celebration

Vehicle Presentation with Collision Repair Partners Marks Largest NABC Recycled Rides® Event in 15-Year History of the Program

Media Note: Photos and Videos from the Event Are Available Here

CHARLOTTE (December 19, 2022) – Recently, 15 deserving veterans and their families were honored at USAA headquarters in San Antonio and presented with National Auto Body Council Recycled Rides® vehicles. All the cars were donated by USAA. and were refurbished by collision repair partners Service King/Crash Champions, which repaired five of the vehicles; Caliber Collision, which also restored five vehicles; Performance Collision of Effingham, SC, a Certified Collision Group affiliate, which presented three vehicles; and Gerber Collision & Glass, which refurbished two vehicles.

The presentation was part of USAA’s 100^th anniversary celebration, through which it gifted some 100 NABC Recycled Rides® vehicles to military families across the country, including Nashville, Seattle, Chesapeake, Savannah, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Denver, Phoenix, Tampa, San Diego and San Antonio. It will present two final vehicles at the upcoming Army-Navy game to two deserving military members.

“USAA is proud to celebrate our 100^th anniversary and our 100^th vehicle gifted as we recognize 15 veterans and present them the gift of reliable transportation,” said Neal Rideout, Senior Vice President, Property & Casualty Distribution and Service, USAA. “Our commitment is to serve our military members, and we are proud to help these veterans and their families with the gift of reliable transportation to help them along their journey. Thank you to our many partners for making this possible.”

For 100 years, USAA’s mission has served active-duty service members, veterans and their families. Recipients have been nominated by nonprofit organizations to receive a NABC Recycled Ride®. With the partnership of the National Auto Body Council® (NABC), a non-profit committed to serving their communities, and many in the collision repair industry, vehicles are repaired and donated to those identified as in need of reliable transportation.

The recipients included:

• US ARMY Veteran Willard Foust, who received a 2017 Dodge Caravan that was repaired by Caliber Collision – IH-10
• US Marine Corps Veteran Eli LeQuang, who was presented a 2018 Honda Civic refurbished by Caliber Collision San Antonio – San Pedro Ave.
• US ARMY Veteran Alfred Wilkinson, who was gifted a 2017 Honda Accord repaired by Caliber Collision San Antonio – Downtown/Broadway
• US Air Force Veteran Sarah Alvarez, who received a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta restored by Caliber Collision San Antonio – Austin Highway
• US Air Force Reserves Veteran Benigno Salas, Jr., who was presented a 2018 Hyundai Elantra refurbished by Caliber Collision San Antonio — Converse
• US ARMY Veteran Danielle Walker, who received a 2018 Mazda CX-5 repaired by Service King/Crash Champions Universal City
• US NAVY Seaman Seth McGraw, who was presented a 2019 Jeep Compass that was restored by Service King/Crash Champions Thousand Oaks and outfitted with hand controls by Freedom Mobility
• US Air Force Veteran Julia Orozco, who was gifted a 2017 Honda Civic repaired by Service King/Crash Champions San Pedro
• US ARMY Veteran Edward Moreno, who was presented a 2020 Nissan Versa restored by Service King/Crash Champions Babcock
• US ARMY Veteran, Rhekia Terrell who received a 2019 Hyundai Elantra refurbished by Service King/ Crash Champions Bandera
• US ARMY Veteran Brittany Kolodgie, who was gifted a 2019 Kia Sorento that was repaired by Performance Collision in Effingham, SC
• US NAVY Veteran Tiffany Kane, who received a 2021 Honda Accord Sport refurbished by Performance Collision in Effingham, SC
• US Air Force Veteran John (Jack) McCloskey, who was gifted a 2018 Nissan Versa repaired by Performance Collision in Effingham, SC
• US ARMY Veteran Jonathan Rosario, who was presented a 2018 Toyota RAV 4 restored by Gerber Collision & Glass Pflugerville
• US ARMY Veteran Ignacio Prieto, who received a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 refurbished by Gerber Collision & Glass Austin/12^th St.

The National Auto Body Council® shared it gratitude for USAA’s tremendous commitment to giving back to military members.

“It is exciting to join our member USAA in their 100^th anniversary celebration, and we are grateful to all of our members Service King/Crash Champions, Caliber Collision and Glass, Performance Collision/Certified Collision Group, Gerber Collision & Glass, which refurbished all of today’s beautiful vehicles, for making this the largest NABC Recycled Rides® presentation in our history,” said Scott Sampley, chairman of the National Auto Body Council® board of directors. “We are proud to meet these veterans and their families and hear their stories. We are indebted to their service to our country and are committed to helping them continue their path to independence and success with the gift of reliable transportation.”

Additional partners in the presentation included 1.800.Charity.Cars, Enterprise, LKQ, Axalta and SafeLite, among others.

NABC Recycled Rides® is a unique program in which businesses representing all facets of the collision repair industry team up to repair and donate vehicles to individuals and families in need of reliable transportation. Since the inception of the NABC Recycled Rides® program in 2007, members of the National Auto Body Council® have donated more than 3,000 vehicles valued at some $42 million.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL AUTO BODY COUNCIL®

The National Auto Body Council® is the premier organization of collision industry partners dedicated to strategic networking opportunities that positively change lives in the communities we serve. The collaborative membership of the National Auto Body Council® has gifted more than 3,000 vehicles, provided extrication opportunities for some 5,000 First Responders and is helping educate students and adult drivers in communities around the country through NABC Recycled Rides®, NABC First Responder Emergency Extrication (F.R.E.E.™) and the NABC® Drive Out Distraction program. That effort equates to a 4:1 ROI in dollar value delivered from NABC® membership dollars. The National Auto Body Council® is changing the paradigm of how the collision industry works. For more information, visit www.NationalautoBodyCouncil.org.