Local car dealership, HUF help put dialysis patient back on the road

Local car dealership, HUF help put dialysis patient back on the road

By Jeff Shaffer, Staff writer
standard-journal.com
January 27, 2007

MILTON, PA — Things just weren’t going well for George Kicska of Milton.

In September, he was in a car accident and the insurance wasn’t enough to get him back on the road again.

In November, a week before Thanksgiving, the 32-year-old started kidney dialysis at the Davita Center in Selinsgrove. He goes three days a week, four hours at a time. He has diabetes and high blood pressure and had been without healthcare for sometime.

Kicska didn’t meet the criteria for county transportation, so he asked friends for rides to his treatments and also to the Bull Run Inn, Lewisburg, where he works as a chef.

“I had friends who were helping me out,” Kicska said, who’s separated from his family. “But I felt like I was putting them out.”

It was one day that he spoke with a former co-worker Josh Sunanday, who is now store manager at the HUF (HandUp Foundation) Discount Center along Carpenter Road, Milton.

To Sunanday and HUF executive director Doug Diven, Kicska sounded like a good candidate for the nonprofit’s Vehicle to Work program.

At the time, however, HUF was without a vehicle to give Kicska. But at Diven’s request, Kicska called HUF constantly for weeks asking about a vehicle. Diven searched many places for a vehicle, but had no luck.

Recently, BZ Motors in Lewisburg stepped in to help out. Diven said Ken Reber of BZ said he was taking a big loss for selling the car at the price he did, but the dealership wanted to help.

“It’s in great shape,” said Diven of the 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix. “Our philosophy is we give the community our best, not throwaways.

“George is a good example of why we started the program. And when you find someone to help in a team effort it’s neat. We’re grateful to BZ Motors.”

Diven said HUF is here to help people who help themselves. They choose to help victims of circumstance rather than those who are victims of self.

Diven added he was impressed that two people called in support of Kicska.

“The program helped fill in the cracks,” Kicska said. “I’m thankful someone is out there. It’s nice to see that there are people who care.”

Kicska, a candidate for a kidney transplant, said he feels fortunate to get around on his own and his dialysis doesn’t wipe him out. He continues to wait for a donor. Doctors estimated it could take one and a half to three years to find a match. A transplant could take him off of dialysis.

“This vehicle has brought back a lot of independence,” Kicska said. “My job is my life.”

He said he really enjoys what he does at Bull Run Inn and seeing that people are satisfied. He also likes the Bucknell University students who frequent the business — most are gracious and police themselves. After asking about and learning of his condition, some student groups would like to put something together to help him out, he said. He’s amazed to see strangers who care.

As for HUF, he can’t say enough for the Christian-based organization and all it does for the community. Most recently, he said he was impressed by the volunteers who came out to construct a new roof for Cindy Morton and her son, Tyler. Husband and father David Morton Jr. died unexpectedly in November before he was able to address a leaky roof. Community volunteers, as well as basketball teammates of Tyler’s from the Meadowbrook Christian School, helped with the project that was completed in a matter of days.

Kicska, who will be volunteering some time with HUF himself as part of the program, encourages anyone who is able to consider volunteering with the nonprofit. HUF can be reached at 742-3000.

“What HUF asks of me is small compared to what they do for me,” he said. “Thank God for them.”

Over the past two years, BZ Motors has worked with HUF on four or five occasions, Diven said. The organization has also received vehicles from individuals.

Diven added the Vehicle to Work program is not funded by grants or the government, and seeks donations from the community, which are tax deductible. People are also welcome to donate vehicles, if they so choose.

Jeff Shaffer: 570-742-9671

URL: http://www.standard-journal.com/articles/2007/01/27/news_full/news2.txt