Help Armendariz family get a new van for Baby BB!

I have a bit of a heart string pulling story.

I am friends with a couple back from my hometown of El Paso, TX. We have been friends since we were teenagers, and my wife has been friends them since 1st or 2nd grade. Brittany and Carlos Armendariz ended up getting married and quickly starting a family. They had four children (one of which we are Godparents to ), and recently had their 5th. The story revolves around this 5th child, Benedict Brandon. As I mentioned, they currently live in El Paso. Brittany’s doctor had discovered that baby BB would be born with heart defects and referred her to give birth in Houston at around 36 weeks, where the hospital would have the resources to conduct several heart surgeries that BB would need. So, Brittany and Carlos packed up their things and left their four kids with grandma while they drove their 2007 Yaris to Houston so they could leave the 2016 Sienna behind. Brittany ended up going into labor the day after they arrived. The plan was for Carlos to be there for the birth and then leave Brittany and baby BB at the hospital and fly home to be a full-time dad to the other four while still juggling his full-time job. Brittany and baby are to stay in Houston for 6+ weeks. They were able to accommodate Brittany at the Ronald McDonald home while baby BB stays in the hospital. Having just delivered, Brittany must drive to the hospital and walk across the parking lot several times a day just to see/feed her baby.

The morning after Carlos arrived home, he discovered the Sienna was missing! It had been stolen right out of their driveway that night with all the kids’ car seats in there and everything! Now, with some local resources, Carlos quickly called his ex-colleagues to help him track it down. But, unfortunately, they could determine it had been taken to Mexico with these resources, and there would be no way of recovering it. Keep in mind, this is El Paso, from the Armendariz’s house to the border is about a 10-minute drive depending on traffic. So, to make this long story short, Carlos is stuck in El Paso without a vehicle to take his four kids to and from school/activities they need to be at. Brittany is stuck in the hospital 13 hours away from home, where she can’t even be with her newborn as he is in neo-natal care.

I just feel so bad for them. Unfortunately, insurance will most likely not cover the price of a new van, and they would most likely have to settle for something way older. And Insurance is also only willing to pay something like $30/day for a rental, which can maybe barely cover a small economy car. Carlos’ current employer did help him out by donating some car seats to lighten the load, however, he has no vehicle to put them in.

Hopefully, this fundraiser will cover the additional cost of getting them the van they deserve as well as helping with some of the medical bills for Baby BB.

I am an engineer for Toyota and may be able to get a new van at a reasonable price, but we’ll definitely need the help to get it.