I don’t usually ask for cash, and frankly, I wouldn’t EVER do so for myself, but I think this is an opportunity for me to get something done and for you all to do something good for someone.

Let me splain myself, Loocy.

I have, in my driveway, a Lumina minivan. This van has seen better days. It belongs to a welfare mom, who is in the process of trying to get her LPN so she can make a decent living for her and her 8 kids. She has worked to the extent that she’s capable, but the van died last fall and she has been walking and otherwise toting her youngsters around.

Anyway, I’ve got a little work to do to get the van running, and so far it’s been OK. It didn’t run at all when I had it towed here, and at first I feared I’d taken on a hopeless cause- but I bought the Haynes manual for it, and looked at the firing order. The firing order is SUPPOSED to be 1,3,5,2,4,6. Instead, the plugs were wired in this order: 1,”b”, tree, aardvark, pencil, 9. Wires were going to places I never expected wires could go. Anyway, I hooked the wires up properly and it now runs as smooth and quietly as a well oiled machine. And pours coolant everywhere but it’s intended locations. Yeah, another leak. Which I intend to have repaired tomorrow.

I will also be looking at CV boots, tie rod ends, lower ball joints, tires. Make sure it all comes together.

I’m paying for this, or getting help from my local auto parts store paying for it. What is needed is current license plates and insurance. I hope she can get insurance for $200 for the first six months and plates for another $50. I’m going to have her check, and if she comes up with a reasonable figure, take up a collection. Then someone will take her to the insurance store and make sure she gets the insurance, same plates, etc.

Why am I doing this for a welfare mother of 8? Maybe I’m a sucker for a hard luck story. Could be that I’m just stupid. Maybe it’s because I admire her for trying to educate and work herself out of poverty, and I see an easy way I can give her a leg up. Email me at mhardig at aol dot com to let me know if you are interested in helping, and when the time comes I’ll email you and let you know.

Thanks again for everything.

Update: turns out the van has greater problems than I feared. Thanks for your consideration, but won’t be anything we can do, unfortunately.