Bring Back the Jeep: Aid Shane and Rebecca

Hey y’all. So to begin with, I’m a little embarrassed writing this in the first place. But honesty is the best policy, so here it goes:

I've always had a passion for offroading. After getting married, this quickly became my wife’s passion. We bought a Jeep, slowly started adding things, and built memories along the way. Shortly after, we moved to the mountains of western NC. And 6 months later, on September 27th, Hurricane Helene destroyed many parts of western NC. From that day forward, the Jeep has been a tool. A tool to deliver oxygen tanks up a mountain with a washed-out road, heat to a single mother who lost everything and was living in a camper, toys to kids at Christmas, propane to empty heaters, and food to those that were hungry. And every time, I would tell them: “look for the Jeep with the American flag.” It became a recognizable vehicle across counties. The flag gave them hope. I had a second flag that read “Black Mountain strong” on it. And I can’t count the times people told me it was a reminder every time they saw me driving through town, that things were going to get better.

Well, times got tough, and money got tighter, but we had our apartment and each other, and that was more than many others, so we were thankful. We got too behind on our payments on the Jeep after the storm, and late last night, the Jeep was repossessed. This is the fault of me, and me alone. The repo man told us that the loan agency we used was one of the worst out there. They are snakes. They constantly confirmed that because of us being in a disaster, they would continue to work out payment plans with us. Then my wife lost her job in the medical field due to cutbacks, and things got tougher than they already were. They closed the account a week ago. I would have to pay the Jeep off in order to get it back. $32,833.56.

All the time, effort, money, adventures, relief work, and memories Becky and I have in this Jeep are priceless to me.

I know this responsibility falls on no one other than myself, but if there is anyone that is able and willing to make any contribution to help me get this back in my driveway, so I can continue doing good work and serving others, it would be greatly appreciated. God bless you all.

-Shane and Rebecca Wolicki