Friends, family, and donors gather as Coach Hill receives second wheelchair accessible van
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -OnRamp handed Rudder High School football Coach Calvin Hill a new set of keys to an upgraded, wheelchair-accessible van.
OnRamp, a nonprofit that gifts vehicles to people on the road to self-sufficiency, gave Coach Hill the wheelchair-accessible van one year ago, after he lost his legs in the 2022 Santa’s Wonderland Bus crash. However, the ramp system in the first van failed and the vehicle needed to be replaced. In the last month, the Hill family was driving a rental van in order to get by.
“When the ramp broke, it was like your stomach just bottomed out, ya know and we were like ‘what are we going to do? ‘I don’t know what to do, we don’t know what to do but pray. But to pray and ask for advice and things like that,” said Sabrina Hill, Calvin’s wife.
Because Coach Hill was still under OnRamp’s 12-month care, the non-profit could gift him a second vehicle. In the last week, OnRamp’s goal was to raise $15,000 in total to secure a new van to restore Coach Hill’s freedom so he could return to his daily activities.
Friday morning, friends, family, donors, and onramp staff gathered to gift Coach Hill a new wheelchair-accessible van.
“To have people come out and give their time, give money, to someone they don’t even know, it’s been a true blessing,” said Calvin Hill. “I just wanted to say thank you for reaching out to us and assisting us with another van, you guys are truly amazing and I thank you guys so much.”
“We are blessed and honored to be among people here that carry and exhibit God’s love and during this time we are so thankful that people are out here helping us,” said Sabrina Hill.
It was an emotional morning watching the Hill family receive their gift.
Coach Hill receives new van
“We really didn’t know how this was going to happen. When their van broke down, these are expensive vehicles and so to see the community come together and the Lord provide a van in one week, that’s just extravagant,” said Blake Jennings, the president and Founder of OnRamp.
Jennings said that they had nearly 100 donors give specifically toward Coach Hill’s second vehicle, raising over $15,000. This is the most donations they have received toward a vehicle they are giving away.
The van is even an upgrade from the first vehicle.
Jennings said this new van is a top-of-the-line Honda Odyssey with only 20,000 miles on it, having modern features inside the new vehicle.
OnRamp said on average, around 12 people donate toward a vehicle they are giving away, and to have over 85 people donate specifically to Coach Hill blew them away.
