Free Car Delivered To Senior Citizens In Tinley Park

TINLEY PARK, IL — A Tinley Park family in need got quite the surprise one recent Friday morning when a group of local do-gooders showed up at their home on Harlem Avenue with a car from the Joe Rizza Ford dealership in Orland Park.

Martin Jones and his wife, Rita were without a car when the coronavirus pandemic began almost two months ago and were forced to either rely on friends or rent a car once a month to run all their errands at once. A few years ago Martin and Rita lost their jobs and had to give up their home of 26 years in Palos Hills and begin renting in Tinley.

When several members of the Tinley Park Citizens Volunteer Committee and Joe Rizza Ford CFO Dan McMillan showed up in their driveway with a "classic" 1998 blue Ford Escort, Martin Jones said he was just about speechless.

"At first I was wondering why all these people are here, but all of a sudden two cars pull in the driveway, one from Joe Rizza Ford and the other car was apparently for us," Jones said. "I got a little emotional because no one has ever done anything like this for us."

The gift was made even better because the Jones family will only have to be responsible for liability insurance for the car and not need to worry about a car payment or other insurance.

"We took the car out last weekend and it was fine... made it all the way to the North Side to visit family for a birthday celebration," Jones said. "The only thing that takes getting used to is that the gas tank is on the left side of the car. The last car we had, the gas tank was on the right side."

McMillan said the car is a "classic," and even though it's 22 years old and first hit the market the year of the most recent Chicago Bulls NBA championship, it only has 60,000 miles on it.

"It was a classic case of grandma only using the car to drive to church," McMillan said.

Volunteers who showed up to surprise the Jones family with the car were jokingly calling it the "Last Dance" vehicle, a nod to its 1998 origin and the ESPN documentary that airs every Sunday night about that Bulls' season.

The Joe Rizza dealership, McMillan said, was first approached about the Jones family's situation by Village of Tinley Park Trustee Michael Glotz, a founding member of the volunteer committee.

"Our philosophy has always been to give back to the community," McMillan, whose been CFO at Joe Rizza for the past 32 years, said. "And in this day in age, when you don't get enough chances to interact with people it's especially important to work with the community and make a difference."

It was "natural," he said, for Joe Rizza to make this donation.

Jones said not only is the car a convenience he and his wife hadn't had in quite some time, it will also allow them to catch up on overdue bills and keep up with their utility payments.

Tim Janecyk, another founding member of the volunteer committee, said they were first connected to Jones regarding a request for someone to deliver them groceries during the pandemic.

Jones told the committee members he didn't have money for the groceries at the time but would pay them back in a few days. The committee decided to cover the cost of the groceries, and then learned of the Jones' struggles.

Glotz then reached out to the dealership, which he calls "a wonderful partner."

"The continued generosity that they have given to the residents of Tinley Park is second to none," the trustee said.

Watch the surprise special delivery here:

Present for the donation were McMillan, Glotz, Janecyk, Tinley Park Assistant Village Manager Pat Carr, Trustee William Brennan, Trustee Michael Mueller, committee co-founder Nancy O’Connor, committee co-founder Colleen Sullivan and volunteer Rachelle Wise.