Need a Ride?

When it comes to building a business, you can’t just give your goods away.

Or can you?

In Tampa, Fla., employees at Ride-Away, the Londonderry, N.H.-based provider of modified vehicles for the disabled, are experiencing first-hand the benefits of just giving their products away — for a little while, at least.

Through the company’s new program, Vans of Valor, Ride-Away is loaning out its Braun Entervan conversion vehicles to disabled veterans. During the vehicle loan period, Ride-Away covers all costs, from maintenance and insurance to licensing, registration and adaptive equipment — and the program is paying off.

Big time.

“There’s obviously some business sense behind the program,” explains Russ Guajardo, Ride-Away sales consultant and the brain behind Vans of Valor.

“We are providing a service to fit the need the veteran is faced with, but in turn we also develop business in the form of a van sale when the veteran is at a stage where he or she can purchase a van.

“As far as business sense goes, it’s basically securing a future purchase for your company, so the initial expense and the operating expense will eventually pay for themselves many times over.”

But the rewards of Vans of Valor are not only evident in Ride-Away’s bottom line. The program, like many business-building ideas, began as a labor of love.

A military man himself, Guajardo has been a regular visitor and volunteer at Tampa’s James A. Haley VA Medical Center for years. His volunteer hours were often spent with veterans suffering debilitating injuries, and, after his nephew Cory suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident, Guajardo decided something must be done to help those in need.

He approached Ride-Away President Mark Lore with his idea for loaning out the company’s modified vehicles and, two months later, Vans of Valor was born.

“We had the sheer advantage of numbers,” Guajardo said. “We had inventory; we already had a rental business in place. All we had to do was transfer vans to the Vans of Valor program.”

The program loaned its first van in the late spring of last year. Since then, Ride-Away has been loaning four Braun Entervan conversion vans — three Dodge Grand Caravans and one Chevrolet Uplander — on a consistent basis to veterans who are recommended to the program by the local VA. The vans are specifically modified to fit the needs of each vet and are delivered directly to the recipient’s home.

Veterans are welcome to use the loaner vehicles until they receive their VA funding to purchase their own specialized vehicle. And in most cases, the vets choose to purchase their personal vehicle from Ride-Away, as the company has already developed a positive reputation among vets and the VA.

One veteran benefiting from the program is Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven Holloway. Upon his return to the States in May of last year, Holloway, who suffered nerve damage to his spine when he was shot by a sniper during his service in Mosul, Iraq, became one of the first veterans to participate in Vans of Valor.

A husband and father of two, Holloway needed transportation that would accommodate both himself and his family while he waited for his VA grant check.

“The VA gives a one-time grant to help pay for a handicap accessible vehicle, but that takes time,” Holloway explained. “Having access to the Vans of Valor vehicle during that time was very helpful. It allowed me to progress through rehab and complete my evaluations so I’d know everything I needed when it came time for me to purchase [my own vehicle].”

Holloway said he expects to receive his personal vehicle, a full-sized Ford E150, in the near future. But for the time being, Holloway said he will continue using the Ride-Away Dodge Grand Caravan and touting the benefits of the program to everyone he meets.

“This has been a tremendous help to me and my family, and [the Ride-Away associates] have been very good to work with, very accommodating,” Holloway said. “It’s a great program and a tremendous help to vets. There’s nothing else that I know of to help the guys who are coming back. I don’t know what I would’ve done without it.”

While still green, the fledgling loaner program is showing a lot of promise, and reps for Ride-Away say the company may expand Vans of Valor to some of its additional 10 locations. In the meantime, Guajardo said he is proud to be part of the pioneering program in Tampa.

“For the sake of humanity, it’s just a good thing for us to be doing,” he said.

For more information about the Vans of Valor program, visit www.ride-away.com.