By Alana Mitchelson
A BEACONSFIELD resident has donated his old car to a charity that converts the proceeds of car sales into funds to support homeless youth across the state.
Ross Campbell bought his Daewoo Lanos to celebrate the birth of his first child in 1999, picking up his wife and daughter from the hospital and the car has held many memories of family outings as his daughters have grown up.
The Campbell family farewelled the car on Friday afternoon, donating it to raise funds for national youth homelessness prevention charity Kids Under Cover’s Donate Your Car initiative.
The car will be auctioned off with all proceeds used to fund accommodation and education programs for young people experiencing homelessness.
Mr Campbell said the intention had been for his now 17-year-old daughter to drive the car when she passed her driving test but she hoped to choose a car of her own, and preferably an automatic. He was sad to see it go.
“At the time it was the perfect sized car for driving the kids around. But it’s time for it to take its next journey,“ he said.
“I don’t think my daughter would have noticed what car we brought her home from hospital in, but it was a special journey for me. I used to work as a youth worker in my 20s and I worked with homeless people, so I know funds are pretty tight.
“I was happy to give them my car. It’s not worth much to me selling it but for something like this, all the funds add up.
“I’d definitely encourage others, who might have an old car that they no longer use, to donate it. You know it’s going to help someone in need.“
Kids Under Cover focuses on building re-locatable studios for young people to live in while they are in a carer’s home, assisting them to stay close to family while providing them the space they might need due to overcrowding issues or conflicts between family members.
The not-for-profit has helped about 3000 young people aged between 12 and 25 who were either homeless or at risk of homelessness through donations of vehicles across Australia.
For more information, vist www.donateyourcar.org.au.
