Need some Land Rover community help

quick128

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2008
1,378
1
Waynesboro VA
I'm going to be brief with the overall description of the problem as
I would he all evening trying to type out all the issues. I will gladly explain the entire story to anyone that wants to hear it over the phone.

My wife is a teacher and she does home bound teaching as a side job to disabled children who can't attend public school. We have become friends with the family of a child she has been teaching for years and have been trying to help them make it. They have 4 children with the youngest being terminally ill with a genetic disorder. He has already had a Make a Wish trip to Disney World and the doctors have declared him a failure to thrive so time is short. His oldest brother is severly autistic and is unable to do anything on his own. The middle two children have no medical issues, but are suffering mentally. The sister got a full college scholarship and is risking blowing that by acting out now that she is out of the house and free not having to care for her siblings. The mother has cancer and cannot work, much less keep up with all the kids. The father works for the Town of Vienna Public Works in NOVA. He drives on hour and 45 minutes one way everyday to work because the pay is much more up there than in Louisa where they live. He has recently been demoted and lost pay because he has to take off so much for his wife's and son's appointments and he long since ran out of sick time. The only bill they are current on is the mortgage and have a hardtime keeping up with grocery bills. Even with disability payments, medicare, and other donations they have a hard time getting by. To make things even harder on them their only dependable transportation, a dodge minivan, just blew the head gasket and they can't afford the $2,800 to fix it. Their other vehicle is a mid 90's pathfinder that is in less than great shape and I don't know how the father drags it to and from NOVA everyday. So what i'm asking is if anyone in the Virginia or maybe Maryland area has a vehicle they want to donate to this family. Doesn't have to be a rover, but maybe something that gets good gas mileage and is relativly dependable. I'm thinking that someone out there must have a $1000 car they could part with knowing it was going to help someone out. I just spent 40 minutes on the phone with the father and he doesn't know what to do. They don't have the money to do anything and my wife and I have already helped all we can with other stuff. I haven't even touched on all the bad luck they have seen in the past few years, but if you want to help and want to hear more PM me your number and i'll give you a call.

paypal for donations: hope4nicholaswilliams@gmail.com
 
Last edited:
Jan 25, 2010
3,544
4
your moms bed
Don't have a car I can part with rite now but if you have a paypal I would definetly make a monitary contribution.Tis the season for giving.I'll match lrflip
 

jhmover

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
5,571
3
California
Devildog01 said:
Don't have a car I can part with rite now but if you have a paypal I would definetly make a monitary contribution.Tis the season for giving.I'll match lrflip


X2 on that.
 

knewsom

Well-known member
Jul 10, 2008
5,262
0
La Mancha, CA
Devildog01 said:
Don't have a car I can part with rite now but if you have a paypal I would definetly make a monitary contribution.Tis the season for giving.I'll match lrflip

x3 here, definitely - wish I had an extra vehicle to donate too...
 

Ballah06

Well-known member
Jan 21, 2007
5,633
15
Savannah, GA
Let us know what the deal on the donation part is. I think that may work out pretty good and with a few people donating a bit, it could be more than a $1000 car in the end. Something reliable to get them around.
 

knewsom

Well-known member
Jul 10, 2008
5,262
0
La Mancha, CA
Ballah06 said:
Let us know what the deal on the donation part is. I think that may work out pretty good and with a few people donating a bit, it could be more than a $1000 car in the end. Something reliable to get them around.

Ya know... Why don't we fix their minivan for them instead? Some of use who can turn a wrench, a few hundred bux for the parts, a weekend to knock it out... I'd definitely be down to help with that too.
 

quick128

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2008
1,378
1
Waynesboro VA
knewsom said:
Ya know... Why don't we fix their minivan for them instead? Some of use who can turn a wrench, a few hundred bux for the parts, a weekend to knock it out... I'd definitely be down to help with that too.

you know I was thinking that too, but then I thought about all the possible issues that can arrise such as cracked block or warped heads and the issue of warranty if the problem goes deeper than the heads and it blows again the next day. I just don't know what the best route is and I appreciate the ideas.
 

knewsom

Well-known member
Jul 10, 2008
5,262
0
La Mancha, CA
I think we'd need to research the exact vehicle a bit, and find out what sort of issues we could be looking at, but I'm pretty sure fixing a vehicle that's otherwise in good shape is better than a new cheap vehicle that could have any number of other problems. ...additionally, if by doing the work with the gentleman who owns the car, he can learn a thing or two from the more mechanically minded of us D-Webbers, it could help him fix it in the future if it had further problems. Teach a man to fish, and all...
 

quick128

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2008
1,378
1
Waynesboro VA
ok, paypal is up and running. We will either let Nicholas' mother put her bank info into the account so we can send it straight to her or set it up to mail her a check when we request it. I guess we will figure out if the money is for repair or replacement sometime soon.

PayPal to:
hope4nicholaswilliams@gmail.com
 
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jhmover

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
5,571
3
California
I put it up at Land Rover Repair Forums and Land Rovers Only. Hopefully some people will kick in. The more the merrier!
 

quick128

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2008
1,378
1
Waynesboro VA
jhmover said:
I put it up at Land Rover Repair Forums and Land Rovers Only. Hopefully some people will kick in. The more the merrier!

Great! I was thinking about putting it up on other forums, but wasn't sure which ones.