ALPENA – When Lorilee McGee and family drove away from the Alpena Goodwill store Thursday, they did so with her usual load of donations for Foster Closet in the trunk.

But this time they rode in a Buick Rendezvoux, which the Green Township family received through Goodwill’s Workers on Wheels program. It replaces a van that had been giving the family trouble, McGee said, and they’ll donate it back to Workers on Wheels. The program has the resources to get it working again and donate it to another family or individual in Alpena County.

“Definitely, it’s a blessing,” she said. “We weren’t sure. We were down to one car, which is better than most people have, but with me starting a job there was no way we could do both.”

Lorilee McGee came to the store with husband Michael and their young children, Charlize and Gabriel. After posing for a few photos with store employees, they checked out their new wheels while Gabriel climbed right into the back seat.

Store Manager Alex Beegen said the family was among 41 nominees for the vehicle. He thanked the community for helping to make a difficult choice easier.

“It’s just a wonderful feeling to work for an organization that does good things for local people,” he said. “I feel good coming to work every day; it feels so good to go to work, to go to a job that gives back.”

Workers on Wheels often takes in donated vehicles, has them brought up to serviceable condition and donates them to people who are struggling and need the transportation, LuAnn Heinert, Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan Workers on Wheels director, said. In this case, the program purchased the Buick and gave it away.

“It’s to raise awareness, and to let the community know that Goodwill is there to help them help their own community in every way that we can,” she said.

Transportation is especially important to a household in rural areas, Heinert said. Someone who lives close to their work may be better off without a vehicle, but when work is 15 miles away or more, they’re relying on friends or family to get them to work. Public transportation has a role to serve, but it can be hard for a family to use it for the many common trips that family would otherwise use a vehicle to make.

Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan has offered the program for 16 years, and across its 19-county territory it has given away nearly 1,000 vehicles, Heinert said. Follow-up surveys show that 56 percent of those who received a vehicle made an immediate gain in their household earnings.

“In the service industry, if they can answer yes to, ‘Can you take John’s shift, he called in sick,’ they’ll get that extra shift, that extra work,” she said. “If they have to say, ‘Let me see if I can find a ride,’ then the employer moves on to the next person on the list.”

Nearly four in five recipients reported that their children were more active in school or social activities, Heinert said. That can have a major impact on their lives in the long term, boosting their educational opportunities, school performance and likeliness they’ll stay in school.

“It’s all a huge community impact in the big picture, as well as in the short-term,” she said.

The McGee’s van will stay local, Heinert said, as the program honors donors’ wishes to help their community. While the program is active in counties where Goodwill has a retail presence, it also has ways to work with donors from other counties in its service area.

Find out more about Workers on Wheels online at goodwillnmi.org/jobs/car-donations, or call 231-995-7718.

Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jt_alpenanews. Read his blog, A Snowball’s Chance, at www.thealpenanews.com.