New wheels in time for new year: Longmont resident receives car from Willie B. Foundation

Christmas came early this year for Longmont resident Analy Mendez and her family when they received a free car from the Willie B. Foundation’s Cars for Christmas project. 

Mendez and her husband have five children ranging in age from 7 months old to 13. The family owns one vehicle that does not have heat. Mendez’s husband works for a janitorial service and often needs the vehicle to get back and forth from work, Mendez said. This leaves her without transportation to get the kids to school. 

Mendez has been in contact with Susan Spaulding, city of Longmont community relations specialist, for the past four years, which is how long Spaulding said she has been trying to get a car for Mendez.

There was an opportunity a few years ago for Mendez to get a car but it required Mendez to invest a bit of her own money. At the same time, Mendez was offered an opportunity to work with a lawyer to gain her citizenship, one she took, using the funds that would have gone toward the car, Spaulding said. 

Spaulding nominated Mendez for a car through the Willie B. Foundation and was surprised to hear her four-year quest was finally going to pay off.

Over the last 13 years, Willie B., a local radio talent and a self-proclaimed wrench turner in his free time, has bought and fixed cars for his annual Cars for Christmas project. Until a few years ago, he funded this project out of his own pocket before starting the nonprofit, he said. 

When the project began, he was able to start with a few cars at a time, slowly ramping up the number. After creating the nonprofit, he brought in enough money to provide 75 cars to families in need in 2019, he said.

COVID has prevented the Willie B. Foundation from hosting its usual fundraising events, causing Willie B. to fund the project and fix 35 cars this year.

Willie B. buys cars February through August each year. He then recruits friends and auto shops to help fix up the cars. 

“I have a group of six or seven other mechanics, friends of mine, and this year I got five shops involved who take a couple of cars each and do a big group effort,” he said.   

The Willie B. Foundation accepts nominations for families to receive cars. Each nomination is carefully read and recipients are selected based on their individual stories. 

“The fact that Susan was a social worker and nominated somebody like that weighed in heavily because an outside party made the nomination. Seeing this person through another person’s lens was pretty interesting to me,” Willie B. said. 

Spaulding learned Mendez would receive the car on Monday, and promptly called to see if Mendez would be willing to spend three hours with her on Tuesday.

Mendez didn’t ask Spaulding questions about where they were going, just if she could bring her baby. Later Mendez would say she guessed Spaulding was going to help her with Christmas gifts for her children and was excited about the help.

The two women arrived at John Elway Chevrolet in Englewood around 2 p.m. Tuesday where they met Willie B.

Mendez was left speechless when Willie B. said “I am giving you a minivan. I suspect that would best with all your kids.” Mendez chose a Dodge minivan from three options after consulting her husband. 

“It’s a big change. It’s amazing. I still can’t believe it. I am in shock. Susan knows how hard I have been struggling and it just means a lot to me to be able to take my kids to the store,” Mendez said. “Thank you to everybody who made this possible for me and my family. It just means so much to me.”