For Immediate Release
March 15, 2019
ARLINGTON, Va. – Monday, March 18th, Catholic
Charities of the Diocese of Arlington will give a donated car to a husband and
wife with two small children at 11 a.m.
in the garage entryway at 200 North Glebe Road in Arlington.
Details of
event:
When: Monday, March 18th, at 11:00 am
Where: Catholic
Diocese of Arlington, 200 North Glebe Road, Arlington ( (Garage entryway)
The recipient of the car is 35-year-old
Sabir Amanat, his wife, and two daughters, ages 5 and 3. They are Pakistani Catholics who escaped
religious persecution in April 2018. “We both
worked for an airline in Pakistan at the time, and were fortunate enough to get
a visa, so we flew to the United States to save our lives,” he said. Amanat says their case is pending to be
evaluated by an immigration court. In the meantime, he and his wife will apply
for work permits next month. Amanat says
he’s grateful for the car. “I feel so
excited. The car will help us daily for taking the children to school, and
attending church,” he said.
“It makes me so happy” says Kelly Bingel. She and her
husband Thad donated the vehicle to Catholic Charities. “We were at the kitchen
table talking about wanting to donate it to charity, and my husband opened up a
letter to give to the (diocese), so we thought it would be a good
donation,” she said. Bingel says the vehicle, a Ford Escape 2006, is great for
taking kids to after school activities.
For more than 20 years, the Catholic Charities’ Car
Ministry has been transforming lives by helping low-income families obtain
vehicles. The program accepts donations
of both working and non-operational cars.
Catholic Charities gives working cars, along with their titles, to
qualified recipients to own. Non-operational cars are sold, and proceeds go to
its programs.
This year so
far, Catholic Charities’ Car Ministry has donated 37 cars to low-income
families. For more information, call
Catholic Charities’ Car Ministry at 703-841-3898.