Community gives Okanagan mom free car for Valentine’s Day gift

It’s a Valentine’s Day gift Roxanne Koscielny won’t soon forget.

The Armstrong mother of two received a free car Wednesday morning thanks to a number of community partners.

“This is really beautiful, thank you everyone,” she told a small group of people who were on hand at the car giveaway event.

Koscielny has had a rough go of it in recent months.

She’s had to overcome a number of health obstacles including three strokes and late last year, she unexpectedly lost her teenage son.

“‘It’s been hard and I have just tried to focus on my daughters to stay strong,” she said. “They keep me strong.”

Koscielny said she hasn’t owned a car for several years. She added that the vehicle will make life easier.

“This is going to help by being able to take my daughters and do things with them because I am between Vernon and Falkland so I can’t really do much, I have to rely on other people,” she said.

The car, a 2002 Saturn, was donated by the House of Rose Winery and Paragon Motors spent hours refurbishing it.

“To be able to know we could make someone’s life easier and really it was time, that’s all it took, just time,” Paragon Motors co-owner Drew Henderson said. “It was absolutely worth it.”

The organization Mamas for Mamas was tasked with the difficult decision to choose a recipient.

“There were so many (moms), I wish I had a hundred cars to give away,” Mamas for Mamas founder Shannon Christensen said. “If they just have that extra bit of help, they can be that much more successful and have that much more confidence in themselves.”

The event also included a balloon release in honour of Koscielny’s son Jayden, who passed away in November.