HANCOCK - One sure sign of the imminent arrival of spring in the Copper Country is when Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly begins its campaign to request donations of vehicles.
Mike Aten, executive director of LBFE in Hancock, said the organization will soon be sending out notices in the mail asking for donations of vehicles, most of which they will sell to help fund the organization's medical transportation program.
Aten said LBFE usually keeps some of the cars or minivans donated to them to help with some of the services they provide to elderly residents.
"We're always looking for old cars to drive," he said. "We use them for our medical transportation program and to go grocery shopping and other errands."
Aten said for its own use, LBFE prefers lower-mileage vehicles, which they usually drive for three years and 15,000 to 20,000 miles.
The LBFE vehicle donation program began in 1990, and originally for the the donations were for the organization's own use, Aten said.
"Right away we were getting more than we could use," he said.
Because of that excess, Aten said it was decided to sell vehicles to help with the funding of the organization.
The vehicles donated can be cars, trucks, vans and even boats, but Aten said the wheeled vehicles donated must run.
"If they have to be towed, we won't take them," he said.
However, Aten said if the person making the donation is unable to deliver the vehicle to the organization's Hancock office, a volunteer will pick it up.
LBFE volunteer Bill Johnson, who owns Johnson Repair in Chassell, looks over the donated vehicles and does needed repairs before they're sold.
"We use the dollars from that for our program," Aten said. "We always sell them below retail. We're not in this to make big bucks."
Although between 15 and 20 vehicles are donated to LBFE every year, Aten said last year's donations were down 70 percent from the year before.
Aten said he thinks the drop in donations had two reasons: The increase in the cost of scrap metal and the slowdown in the economy.
"If you had an old junk car, you could easily get $200 for it," he said.
Because of the state of the economy, Aten said people may be holding onto their cars longer before replacing them.
The donations of vehicles to LBFE are tax- deductible, Aten said. After the vehicle is sold, the owner will get a letter from LBFE stating what it was sold for.
For those people who want to donate a newer car but who also want to get some money for the vehicle, Aten said they can get the vehicle appraised as a trade-in, bring it to LBFE who will try to sell it for a price higher than the appraisal. Once the vehicle is sold, the owner gets the appraised amount and LBFE keeps any amount over that.
Aten said occasionally LBFE will give a vehicle to one of their clients who can afford to pay insurance and maintenance costs, but can't afford car payments.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie @mininggazette.com.
