Being an active lead with Free Hot Soup means spending a lot of time picking up donations, sorting and storing them and then getting them into the hands of those in need. I've easily logged 10k+ miles just working towards this goal. I am lucky in that I have a minivan with stow and go seats that allows me the necessary space to carry a lot but its still not enough at times. We as a group in the FHS North group have/had a long term goal of acquiring a van for this dedicated purpose. The hope was to have it by the end of 2021 but as fate would have it I got a call last week asking if I wanted the retiring vehicle from an animal sanctuary in Parkville.
Skeptical of anything that seems to good to be true I drove over and talked to my friend who is a former FHS member. She let me take it out for a spin and look under the hood. It's an older model (97') 10 person cargo van but seemed mechanically sound and fit our needs. I looked into the insurance costs and spoke to my FHS lead team and we decided to take the plunge. I ended up having to drive it home without an licenses plates but as luck would have it there was an officer dropping off at the animal sanctuary who told me if I have the bill of sale they should let me go without any problems should I be pulled over. I parked it in my driveway and scheduled an inspection (again driving it without plates).
A few days later I went to the DMV with the insurance policy, title, bill of sale, my last two years of property taxes and $100 in cash to avoid the credit card fees. I must have found them at the right time and got right in to talk to a nice young lady who looked everything over and said, "well you've done well but you're missing one thing". Feeling defeated I sat there and listened as she explained that because of the low sale cost I needed to have the bill of sale notarized. Sadly this was close to the end of the day so I would have to wait to try again. I contacted the treasurer who sold me the van and arranged to meet him, of course he wasn't there and it took a few more attempts before connecting. I finally got the necessary paperwork and stopped back in to the DMV this time sailing right on through this time.
When I got home Ana asked me if our "little helper" was ready for action. I loved the name so much we've dubbed it the official name. Although she is anything but little I am sure she will definitely be a big help!
4/26/2021