Car Donation Helps Out Wounded Marine, Family

NEWTOWN SQUARE–The Kalitz Family, of Berlin, N.J., had one of their prayers answered on Friday morning. The family of five received a free 2004 Town Country minivan as a gift from Steve Videon of Videon Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Edgmont.

Jim Kalitz, 2nd Tank Battallion of the United States Marine Corps who served in Baghdad, became partially disabled when he worked for a U.S. Army contracting job. Soon after, Kalitz's health became worse when he suffered a few seizures. To make matters worse, Kalitz's wife Kelly was also involved in a head-on collision and their family's minivan was totaled.

Unable to work or serve (he was waiting to deploy for a tour in Kuwait at the time), the family of five lost an income in a matter of days. Kalitz reached out to Operation First Response–an organization that provides services to wounded veterans with personal and financial needs–in hopes of receiving aid and guidance, but in return he received much more.

Headquartered in Virginia, Peggy Baker, president of OFR, reached out to Delaware County's Walk for the Wounded organization, who shared similar goals as OFR.

Broomall resident Nick Constantino, senior advisor for the organization, heard the news from Baker who then quickly stepped up with various other members of the organization, reaching out to VFWs, American Legions and Marine Corps Leagues in the county. was also there on Friday to celebrate the Kalitz Family receiving their gift.

A group of about 40 veterans, volunteers and community supporters decided to hold a beef and beer fundraiser in support for the Kalitz family, which turned out to be an incredible success.

"We were talking about helping out Jim and his family with our group and within two and a half weeks we held this fundraiser," recalled Constantino. "We were looking to raise about $3,000-$5,000 and we ended up raising over $10,000."

As the group worked to figure out a way to get a replacement for the Kalitz family car, word quickly spread and soon Tom Gavin, of Videon's dealership and a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH)–Irish Catholic Fraternal Organization–got wind of the situation and brought it up to Steve Videon.

"I felt led to do it," said Videon, who donated a minivan with a personal connection to it. Videon's father Frank, who recently passed away one year ago this month, and his wife were the previous owners of the car.

"It's mom's car–I didn't tell her yet," laughed Videon about the donation. "She can't drive it anymore but my parents had it since it was brand new. They enjoyed it. My mom loves this car. It just fits perfectly. I hope they [Kalitz family] enjoy it. We try to help out when we can."

Kalitz's wife Kelly, who was in "total shock" from the donation said the whole thing felt "surreal."

"We could have never expected anything like this," shared Kelly humbly. "We've been through so much but we still feel that there are more people who have done so much more to deserve this."

Even more humbling for Kelly is the fact that a group of strangers had heard their story and decided to help their situation.

"We've never heard of Newtown Square but to receive this donation from a community that's never met us–it's mind blowing," said Kelly. "This whole thing is surreal."

The three Kalitz girls–ages 8, 6, and 2–were anxious to ride in their new vehicle and tested out the seats in the Videon car dealership on Friday morning. The girls, excited about their new car, brought along their DVDs to watch on the car ride home.

In addition to members of the Walk for the Wounded, members of the General Smedley D. Butler Marine Corps League Detachment of Newtown Square, American Legion Manoa Post, and the Upper Darby Marine Corps Leauge Detachment as well as local musician Carmen Magro, who will be the main act for this year's Walk for the Wounded event in May, were also present for the donation ceremony on Friday morning.

For more information on Walk for the Wounded and how to donate or get involved, visit their website at http://www.walkforthewounded.org/media/

Related Topics: Delaware County, Operation First Response, U