Giving a helping van

It really is a small world.

Hope for the Warriors -- a national, non-profit organization who enhances the quality of life of US service members and their families who have been affected by injuries or death during the line of duty -- was in desperate need of a van to transport its veterans to programs and events around New York City.

Tina Atherall, executive vice president of Hope for the Warriors said they were renting vans every month, and the costs were piling it up. "We needed transportation and we were renting vans," Atherall said. "It started getting very expensive."

Atherall said she began inquiring about buying a van for the organization when the building manager of their New York office, Frank Magnani, told Atherall that his son-in-law, Chris Anderson, was the president of a Ford dealership in Lynbrook and could probably give them a fair price on a new van. When Atherall approached Anderson about purchasing one, she said, she was surprised by Anderson's answer. "We went in thinking we might just get a good price," she said, "and they donated one outright."

Anderson, who is the president of Crown Ford on Merrick Road in Lynbrook, donated a 2009, 12-passenger van to Hope for the Warriors on Oct. 29. "It just felt like the right thing to do," Anderson said. "We are part of our community and sometimes we get to reach outside our boundaries. It was worthwhile, that's for sure."

Danielle Ryan, the northeast program events coordinator for Hope for the Warriors, said the organization was asking city firefighters to transport wounded veterans to events and programs, and van rentals were costing the organization around a $1,000 a week. "As a non-profit, we don't have the enough money to put down on a van," Ryan said. "We were paying each time, and sometimes we needed two or three vans."

Atherall said that the donated van is a tremendous help to the organization. "We spend a lot of time in the vehicle and friendships are formed," she said. "The financial strain taken off the organization will help us for years to come."

Anderson's father, Ed, is an ex-marine who recently passed away, and Atherall said they will dedicate the van in his memory.

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