By David Taylor / Managing Editor
For more than two decades, Lee and Leila Bates have given from their heart and wallet a refurbished car to a deserving family at Christmas time. The auto collision repair company based originally in Channelview and expanded now into Baytown, has worked with the Harris County Department Education Head Start program for most of those years and the program continues to expand.
“It’s been such a good partnership,” Leila said, “in that they help provide us with nominations that meet our criteria and then help us coordinate this event.”
For Octavia Lafayette, a single mom of three children, it was a blessing. She received a silver Nissan Versa at the revealing party.
For the Bates family and committee who helps make the decisions on the parents to receive the gift, it doesn’t come easy.
“It’s a hard choice to pick just two families each year,” Leila said, “but the car plays an instrumental part in that we’re looking for hard working families and parents that are engaged and doing good things with their family.”
It was the 47th car to give away and Bates said she was proud of her team of workers at the shop who contributed to the project.
“They’re in a daily grind putting cars back together and on the road again when they are interrupted with this project,” she said. “This is changing lives and helping families get further down the road to independence.”
There are a couple of major criteria that the Bates committee is seeking.
“This is truly a program that is a helping hand up. It is not, it is not a handout, because
parenting, honestly, is the most important work that we will ever have in our life. It’s the most important job that we will ever have in our life. It’s the thing that can change the world,” Leila said.
They sought parents who were grinding in spite of their circumstances and definitely without transportation.
Lafayette has three children: Trayvon the youngest who is in HeadStart, Olivia, and Strada. Lafayette works nights at the airort parking facility and was juggling rides for herself and her son to get to football games during the past season. She was fortunate to have help from her mother to use her car to get the kids to school and to their daily activities.
“What touched us about Octavia is that not only is she figuring out how to make it work right now, she has goals, work ethic, independence, determination and with this car, she’ll be able to get her CDL license and training and achieve a better job,” Leila said.
Lafayette not only received the keys to a new car but six months of insurance coverage donated to her by AMI Insurance.
After being gifted with her 2024 Responsible Parenting Award, Lafayette was given the keys to her new vehicle parked in the lot just outside the Bates Collision Center buildings.
The car was wrapped in Christmas paper and outside Lee Bates was happy to thank a few more partners for their help.
“The Channelview High School baseball team also helps in collecting toys and loading the car with presents,” he said.
After all the thank yous, it was time for the family to unwrap their big present.
There were lots of smiles and tears of gratitude as they unveiled their Nissan Versa four-door sedan loaded with presents in the front and back seats, and another surprise—the trunk was also full of presents.
“I just thank everybody that’s here to celebrate. I had a birthday on the 29th and my son had a birthday on Monday. This makes me feel so good and so happy,” Lafayette said.
Lafayette learned about the program at HeadStart and filled out the paperwork not knowing whether she had a chance or not.
“I didn’t have a lot or anything and just made do with what I had and trusted God that it would work out for me some day,” she said, “and it did.”
The Smiley High School graduate has a sophomore at Humble High School who is awesome on the basketball team and now she’ll be able to watch him play.
Lafayette was having to get up at 4 a.m. to be able to juggle transportation and get the kids to school by 8 a.m. Now she’ll have the chance to get some more sleep after working a late-night shift to get her children to school.
“It has been a struggle, but somehow, god made it work,” she said.
Leave a Comment: