It takes a village … to a raise a van.
Or rather, to raise the money so the Shack Neighborhood House could replace its old one.
“This is such a caring community,” Shawnda Cook said this past Friday.
“I really don’t have the words. We’re just so grateful.”
Cook is the executive director of the nonprofit that has been doing outreach in the Scotts Run area since 1928.
From its home base in Pursglove, the Shack Neighborhood House these days is known for all those after-school and summer enrichment programs it provides for youngsters.
Outreach was the aim when it was founded 94 years ago on the cusp of the Depression.
The main mission then was to provide a safety net and healing balm for impoverished coal-mining families up and down Scotts Run.
The Shack, in fact, quickly became a favorite of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who carried that same mission of service.
Over the spring, the neighborhood house unwillingly offered another service – the kind of which Cook would have preferred steering the other way.
That was when the catalytic converter was lifted from The Shack’s then-ride, a road-worn, 2000 Dodge Ram 3500.
The commercial van that seated 10 was an odometer veteran, with more miles than Cook could count. It shuttled Shack youngsters to and from, for all those above-mentioned programs.
Field trips were what made it famous.
There were the relatively short jaunts to the Core Arboretum and Hovatter’s Zoo, plus the serious road trips to Pittsburgh, for Pirate games and Kennywood Park.
In the dark enterprise of thievery, said catalytic converter is actually worth more than the tired van from which it was lifted.
Catalytic converters, which turn a vehicle’s toxic emissions into exhaust gas, have been a favorite of late for people operating in the criminal lane.
That’s due to the precious metals of platinum, palladium and rhodium the components contain.
Ready for some sticker shock? Rhodium alone can bring more than $19,000 an ounce, industry watchers say – and no, that’s not a typo.
However, the cargo hauled by said van was priceless, Cook said.
“If we didn’t have a van, we couldn’t take our older kids places,” the director said.
Eyes on the road
Cook didn’t need GPS to know the direction this one was going.
She’s cruised the nonprofit world for years, formerly heading Mon Valley’s Habitat for Humanity before signing on with The Shack.
“We started thinking, ‘Well, you can replace the catalytic converter, but the van is still going to be 22 years old,’” she remembered.
Which, of course, means other concerns that she had already been worried about as she marked her year on the job. She was thinking about the frame, suspension, steering – “It has to be safe,” she said.
So the decision was made to acquire a new van. At least a relatively new one.
As said, Cook had been thinking about that all along, but it wasn’t a matter of a simple hop to a dealership for a test drive.
Not for a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has to scrutinize every dime and decimal point, she said.
Cook launched a GoFundMe account for the new van, which began bringing contributions.
Donations to the neighborhood house are typically 100% tax deductible. Visit https://the-shack.org/ for more on the history and mission of the place.
An earlier feature in this newspaper on the four-wheeled plight also helped shine the spotlight, in the meantime.
More than $30,000 would roll in before it was over.
Fast lane for fun
The result was a new-to-them 2020 Chevy Express: It’s another commercial model that seats 15.
And this one, the director happily reports, has an odometer that’s not as angst-riddled this time.
Cook was able to work with a national car rental chain for the purchase.
No road trips yet, however.
The van will remain parked while The Shack gets set for a summer learning camp June 13.
There’s that, plus some tune-ups to its swimming pool, which just turned 76.
“We’re anxious to get to work for the summer,” the director said.
“We’re anxious to hit the road for the summer. The community made this van happen. I can’t say, ‘Thank you,’ enough. People are always generous to The Shack.”
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