Minneapolis Students Rebuild Donated Car for Navy Veteran Who Walked Everywhere for Two Years

Robert Hanson spent more than two years without a vehicle, walking everywhere to get food while managing severe asthma and fibromyalgia. The Navy veteran, who served as an airman from 1993 to 1997, was referred by a Hennepin County welfare service to Recycled Rides, a program run by the National Auto Body Council. Allstate donated a 2020 Hyundai Elantra that had been recovered from a serious front-end collision, and it landed in the hands of students at Dunwoody College of Engineering in Minneapolis.

Students in the school’s Automotive Collision and Refinishing program spent months doing the bodywork and refinishing through the Recycled Rides for Schools program. When the car was finally presented to Hanson, he said he was blown away and thankful, calling it a big-time game changer since he’d been walking everywhere to get food. Student Abbie Vera said she was just happy to see how happy he was to receive what amounted to a brand-new car.

The story lines up three things that rarely connect: veteran support, hands-on trade education, and a donated salvage vehicle getting a second life. Hanson gets his independence back, and students got real-world experience on a project that actually mattered. What’s a skill you’d love to learn if it meant helping someone else?