House of Cars Lethbridge's Hutch Orr (left) with Carole Hutchison and her gifted 2012 GMC Terrain on March 10, 2021 (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Local auto dealer gifts vehicle to Lethbridge mother in need

Mar 11, 2021 | 11:27 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – House of Cars Lethbridge made Carole Hutchison’s day this week.

The city woman and her 17-year-old daughter were recently involved in a collision that caused irreparable damage to her vehicle. Unfortunately, insurance issues left Hutchison without a permanent replacement car.

“My insurance, as it turned out, was not what I thought it was going to be,” she said.

“I got the comprehensive insurance, which I assumed would take care of my lender [vehicle] and it didn’t. So, my settlement didn’t pay off my loan and it also didn’t leave me anything for a vehicle. I’m looking for a job and I have kids at home, and I needed a vehicle.”

Hutchison said she put an ad on Facebook, seeking a vehicle. In a case of serendipity, she was contacted by an employee at House of Cars Lethbridge.

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It turns out, Hutchison and her daughter were assisted by three citizens at the scene of their collision. One of them was Hutch Orr, the owner/general manager of House of Cars Lethbridge.

Orr and his team decided they wanted to help out further and get a permanent vehicle for Hutchison and her family. The Lethbridge mother was told she would be getting a 2004 Ford Fiesta.

“I thought, great, a four-door automatic. I can get back on the road,” she said.

What Hutchison didn’t know was that she would be getting a newer, 2012 GMC Terrain, which she received on Wednesday, March 10.

“I was really not expecting this. It’s overly generous,” she said.

“It means that I can get to work, and I can get my kids around where they need to go, and I don’t have to ask for rides. I can be independent, and that means a lot.”

House of Cars Lethbridge’s Hutch Orr said they receive so much from the community, and the whole team at his shop wanted to give back.

“Carole was under the impression that she was getting a little beat-up car that we were helping her out with and that she was going to be spending about $1,500 on, but at least she was getting a car that was inspected,” he said.

“Today [Wednesday] was a surprise that she was getting a GMC Terrain, fully inspected, fully safety [tested] and not costing her a penny.”

House of Cars Lethbridge covered the cost of the vehicle.

“We rely on the community to support us on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual basis and we want to make sure that we’re giving back and showing our appreciation,” Orr commented.

“We love to do it [offer community support]. It’s a lot of fun. At Christmas, we did a big giveaway and it was fun.”

Orr added that he hopes this deed helps spread some cheer and goodwill across the whole community.

“Irregardless we’re going to keep doing it, so we’re always looking for opportunities to give back to the community. Like I said, it’s a lot of fun and we enjoy it and I think you see that in the faces of the people that we help out, and our staff. It’s exciting, it’s fun to do,” he said.

Hutchison said this act of kindness from the local auto dealer has ‘restored her faith in humanity’.

“With this whole pandemic year, the year before has been difficult on everybody and everybody’s really stressed. I’m not the only one who has lost things. There’s lots of people that have lost more than I have in the last year that are probably more deserving of this than I am, so I’m very, very grateful,” she said.

She added that she’s noticed many people are stressed due to the pandemic and are “eager” to take that stress out on each other and “not be great”. That’s something she’s hoping will change.

“When you see accidents on the side of the road, the majority of people just drive by and they take pictures and they’ll text it and they’ll put it on social media but nobody ever really stops to make sure that your drivers are okay. We came very close, my daughter and I, to being very, very seriously injured. It was really hard on both of us,” Hutchison told LNN.

“If nobody had stopped us – I have no family here, there would have been nobody to help us, so having anybody stop to come and help us out and make sure we were okay is amazing, but having that same person really help you out this way after the fact is outstanding.”

Hutchison said despite the challenges facing the world, there are still many good people willing to help out.

“You just have to ask for help when you need it and you just have to hope for the best. There are good people out there. They’re not all bad.”

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