Brandon Twp.- Susan McDowell accepted the keys to her new car with a big smile on Monday, and a lot of gratitude.
‘I would like to thank everyone for their support,? said the 2004 Brandon High School graduate. ‘It’s because of your wonderful community that I now have a car. I am so grateful for what you have done for me.?
Nearly $5,000 in donations were made to an account for McDowell after her story of hardship, ‘BHS grad lacks vehicle, but driven by ambition,? ran in the Aug. 16 edition of The Citizen (view the story online at www.thecitizenonline.com). The donations enabled McDowell to purchase a loaded 1996 Saturn SL2 sedan with 99,000 miles on it, from Lane Car Company. Jimmy Lane gave McDowell a 2-year unlimited mileage warranty on the vehicle and also had new tires and brakes put on it for her. McDowell used part of the money to pay for six months? worth of car insurance.
BHS special education teacher Jodi Burkett, who taught McDowell for four years, coordinated the effort to get her former student a vehicle and was amazed at the outpouring of support.
‘I cannot believe in the hard times we’re having that the community has come through,? she said. ‘I know their efforts will not go unrewarded. She will pay it forward to someone else. We are so thankful.?
McDowell is the first in her family to graduate high school and also graduated from college, with a culinary arts degree from the Michigan Career and Technical Institute, but has faced numerous obstacles to success and in the last four years, has owned five used vehicles, all of which have broken down.
Because of her car troubles, McDowell was in danger of losing her job as a pastry chef at The Palace of Auburn Hills, and had taken on a second full-time job at Taco Bell in Clarkston.
On Monday, McDowell brought a cake she had made to Lane, decorated in yellow and red icing with the message ‘Thank you? written across the top.
She sat in her car and deemed it a perfect fit.
‘This feels awesome,? said McDowell, who will return to working at the Palace full-time next week, just in time for Disney on Ice and the Celine Dion show. ‘I like it a lot… Thank you from the bottom of my heart.?