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The RoundUp: Vets get refurbished cars; senior living facility gets a stained-glass art piece; kids get a goat walk

Locals who make us proud.

Frank Gadson received a 2016 Mazda CX-5 that was donated by GEICO and refurbished by Son's Collision Centers. Gadson was nominated for the Recycled Rides program by the New Jersey Veterans Network for his 22 years of service. He served as a combat medic over three deployments as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Frank Gadson received a 2016 Mazda CX-5 that was donated by GEICO and refurbished by Son's Collision Centers. Gadson was nominated for the Recycled Rides program by the New Jersey Veterans Network for his 22 years of service. He served as a combat medic over three deployments as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.Read moreCOURTESY OF THE NATIONAL AUTO BODY COUNCIL

Vehicles for vets. On Aug. 14, four South Jersey military veterans were gifted refurbished vehicles at a charity event at Mountain View Golf Club in Ewing Township, N.J. The donations were part of the Recycled Rides program, in which insurance companies, paint suppliers, parts vendors, and collision repairers collaborate to repair older vehicles that are then donated to families in need of reliable transportation. The 12-year-old program of the National Auto Body Council was created, in part, to help improve the image of the auto-repair industry. Nationally, more than 2,100 cars have been repaired and donated since the program began in 2007.

Window dressing. In early August, Carmen Martella, 88, a self-taught stained-glass artist, donated one of his own creations to the Plush Mills senior living facility in Wallingford. Martella’s handiwork, which took three months to create, is made up of 149 pieces of glass and depicts the Plush Mills home he moved into last fall with his wife, Joan. Since his arrival, Martella has created more than 70 pieces and gifted them to his new neighbors and Plush Mills staff members.

Goats in the park. On Sept. 25, the Free Library of Philadelphia will team up with the Philly Goat Project to host a “storybook walk” at Rittenhouse Square. The event, which kicks off at 5 p.m. and is open to children and families, will include a goat-accompanied tour through the park, during which a guide will stop intermittently at lawn signs that, taken together, tell a full story that ends at the Billy goat statue inside the park. “Goats are like a bridging platform for different causes,” said Philly Goat Project founder Karen Krivit. "We’re looking at how to get families to read together.” For more information, call 215-685-6621.

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