Shop class donates refurbished car

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

A Bigfork single mother of two has received a donated, refurbished ’95 Pontiac Grand Prix thanks to the efforts of a Bigfork High School teacher and his students.

Donna Beliveau accepted the title to the shiny white car Jan. 17 from Steve Melkioty, BHS automotive and welding teacher, and principal Thom Peck.

An unknown donor gave the Pontiac to the high school automotive shop about five years ago, and the students had used it mostly for parts to fix other cars, Melkioty said.

“They’ve used it for a lesson car, but I saw something in it that could be way better used in the community,” he said. He asked his students whether they knew any single moms who needed a car. One student suggested Beliveau, who is the mother of one of his classmates.

Melkioty and a group of students picked up parts for the car while on a field trip to the Montana Automotive Museum in Deer Lodge; they found most of what they needed at a Missoula salvage yard and bought the remaining parts new. An anonymous donor paid for new snow tires for Beliveau’s car.

“We’re looking for cars we can fix up and give away,” Melkioty said. “The whole idea is to provide where provision is needed. I’m hoping this is just the beginning.”

The best part of this plan is that his students are learning the importance of giving to others in need, he said.

“The time will come in their lives where they will have the opportunity to give without being paid, without even a handshake,” he said. Adults can help by modeling giving behavior for youth who may be used to thinking mostly of “me, me, me,” he said.

“For [students], it’s a lesson that you can’t attach everything to a dollar bill,” Melkioty said.

The automotive shop class project inspired other students to give to their community by cutting Christmas trees and buying toys and coats for families in need, Peck said.

Melkioty receives many calls from people wanting to donate cars, but he’s careful to accept only cars that people can afford to drive. For example, a vehicle that gets five miles to the gallon would cost too much for most limited-income families to operate, he pointed out.

The shop welcomes vehicles in reasonably good condition, and the donor can take a tax write-off in the amount of the car’s Blue Book value.

The BHS auto shop students presented the car to Beliveau, her son Shane and daughter Amanda just before Christmas, but the family had to wait until last week to get the car’s title so that they could take it home. Donna Beliveau said Peck called her one day, insisting she come to the high school immediately because her son had “mouthed off” to a teacher. Peck asked her to meet him in the school’s auto shop, which seemed odd because her son wasn’t in the shop class. When she arrived at the shop, both of her kids were there, along with Peck, Melkioty, students who had worked on the Pontiac — and the fixed-up car itself, sporting a big, red Christmas bow.

“This is such a blessing,” Beliveau’s mother, Caren Kastner, said of the car.

Before receiving the Pontiac, Beliveau had been trying to get by on a borrowed ’88 Beretta that needed frequent repairs. The last straw came when the Beretta’s steering wheel column started smoking, she said. Maybe Melkioty’s class would like to take it as a donation? The teacher said he’d swing by and take a look.

“I’ve never owned a car before, and I’m 35,” Beliveau said, turning to admire her new Pontiac. “This is my first actual car.”