Donating a Car to the Kidney Foundation of Canada

I had one last item I needed to donate – my car. I didn’t want to sweat over how to go about donating my car too much, so I contacted the charity I knew accepted car donations – The Kidney Foundation of Canada. I’ve never had any dealings with the Kidney Foundation of Canada before, but they advertise the fact that they accept car donations on the radio all the time so any driver in Edmonton would have heard of them. Plus I was well aware of how painful and debilitating kidney disease is so donating a car to the kidney foundation seemed like the right path to go. Hopefully my contribution helped someone suffering from kidney problems.

Photo: 1997 Chrysler Cirrus, The Car I Have Donated to the Kidney Foundation of Canada
Photo: 1997 Chrysler Cirrus, The Car I Have Donated to the Kidney Foundation of Canada

The process of Donating a Car to the Kidney Foundation of Canada was fairly simple. I’ve looked up their website address on the internet and checked out the means to contact them about car donations. Since they advertise the fact that they seek car donations all over the radio, there was a hotlink right on their front page where anyone interested in making a car donation could go for further details. This page is located on http://www.kidney.ca/Page.aspx?pid=419.

The “Donate a Car” page contained a hotlink to a Kidney Car Hotline page where I looked up the phone number to call in Edmonton. I called the number (1-780-453-2288) and told them I had a 1997 Chrysler Cirrus in decent shape I wanted to donate but had no means of towing so, I told them where it was parked, provided them with my cell phone number and advised them on what the best time of day was to get a hold of me. The agent on the other end of the line took all the info and said a tow truck would come tonight to get the car.

Stupidly enough, the tow truck never showed up. This was a really low blow on behalf of the Kidney Foundation of Canada but since it was late afternoon, I figured that perhaps something got in the way and they were not able to secure a tow truck for the day. They knew I worked until 4pm and would get home by about 4.30 so I thought they were gonna make solid arrangements and will come to get it the day after. But it never happened again. At that time I was only a few days away from my departure to Siem Reap so I didn’t find this mess very cool. First of all, I was donating my car to them so I thought they would be more appreciative and would meet me half way with efforts to try to accommodate my schedule and work around it. But most of all, I didn’t make any other arrangements, should the donation to the Kidney Foundation of Canada fail, so if they didn’t pick it up before my departure, I’d be screwed.

The car was parked at the parking spot behind the apartment building where I was staying, but because I left the notice that I was gonna leave at the end of August, it automatically meant that I would also have to remove my automobile from the parking lot as well. Apartment buildings often provide you with parking space for your car if you live there and pay rent (sometimes parking is extra, in my case it wasn’t). But as soon as you move out, you have to take your car with you as you are no longer a resident on the premises and have no right to continue using their private parking space.

I really needed the Kidney Foundation of Canada to quit acting up and start being more responsible with people’s donations. I phoned them up again and sounding a bit frustrated, I wanted to know why after two days they still have not sent the tow truck like they promised. I think I’ve heated up enough water for the agent I spoke with to take the matter in firm hands, put me on hold, make solid arrangements and get back to me confirming that the truck will be there tonight for sure.

Luckily, the truck did show up. Once the truck was there, it was just a matter of minutes to get my car hooked up and before I could blink, my old wheels that kept me reliably mobile for almost a decade were gone out of my life for good. It was an old car. Trying to sell it would be way more a headache that it’s worth so donating it was definitely a good idea. I’d probably get a couple of hundred bucks at best if I were to sell it, but would waste tons of my precious time and the hassle might not be over after ownership has been transferred. Some people think that cars they paid $300 for should run like new ones worth $20,000. I could already imagine new owner calling me to ask why the air conditioning doesn’t cool the cabin down fast enough… Do I have the time and nerve to deal with that type of crap? Hell no. Donating a Car to the Kidney Foundation of Canada was definitely the best decision I could have made. Once I had it off my back, I was free from the biggest material thing I had owned. The real freedom was just around the corner.