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RIVERDALE — Nina Archuleta has a lot on her plate.
The Roy resident is a single mom of a 10-month-old, and she works full-time as a sales associate at Layton Hills Mall. She's in recovery from addiction, and she's been juggling everything without owning a car.
But that changed on Thursday when Ogden-based nonprofit God's Garage partnered with America First Credit Union to surprise Archuleta with a white 2012 Toyota RAV4.
The surprise giveaway happened at America First Credit Union's operation center in Riverdale, where Archuleta said she thought God's Garage representatives would simply discuss the car application she'd submitted to them nine months earlier.
But now she no longer has to ask for rides or take public transportation to work.
"It's so big. (It makes) so much difference," Archuleta said. "I couldn't stop crying. ... I'm so grateful."
Making that kind of difference is what God's Garage is all about. The organization donates cars and mechanic services to single moms, widows and wives of deployed military members.
Jodi Klingensmith, who works with God's Garage, said the nonprofit began 20 years ago in Houston, Texas, but has been in Utah for four years. The local location is run by members of the Washington Heights Church in Ogden, she said.
Their partnership with American First is a first of its kind, Klingensmith said. The credit union donated Archuleta's 2012 Toyota RAV4, but typically, God's Garage gets cars and other donations by word-of-mouth, rather than from a corporate sponsor, she said.
Klingensmith said she and another Washington Heights Church member vetted the 200-plus applications that God's Garage receives each year. In 2021, 248 women applied for the 40 cars they ultimately gave away, she said. Archuleta's car is the organization's 24th giveaway this year, Klingensmith said. The single mom's application was chosen out of a pool of 294 applicants.
It's hard being unable to help so many of the women who apply, Klingensmith added; but organizers of the nonprofit feel "a need to reach out and help the community. ... God loves us, so we show that love in the community."
Dave Nellis, director of public relations at America First, said the company decided about six weeks ago it wanted to donate a fleet vehicle that was being cycled out of the company car lineup. The 2012 Toyota RAV4 has 99,000 miles on it and needed little repair, he said.
Nellis said board of directors chairwoman Linda Carver knows one of the God's Garage mechanics and arranged a tour of the nonprofit's facility. While on the tour, Nellis and other credit union employees saw a God's Garage car giveaway. "It really touched us," he said.
In addition to donating a car, he said the company made a financial donation that will allow God's Garage to continue putting money into other cars.
"We invest ourselves in the community where our members do their business, where they live and where they work," Nellis said. "And this is an example of how we're able to partner with a company that gives back to the community and it matches our purpose. Their values and our values are right in line with each other."
