'Local Hero' rewarded for volunteerism with new van

Steve Karmgard has never let the traumatic injury that left him in need of a wheelchair hold him back.

His aging modified van, on the other hand, was threatening to do what his disability could not.

That changed last week when Karmgard was awarded a new modified Toyota Sienna at Schaumburg Toyota, his reward for being chosen as a winner of the 2016 National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association's Local Heroes Contest.

Karmgard, who lives in Genoa and works at Elk Grove Village-based ADP, was left quadriplegic after suffering a broken neck in a diving accident shortly after he graduated high school in 1992.

Despite the injury, he went on to college and then worked as a manager of an automotive shop. He used his earnings from that job to buy his first modified van, and the new freedom to get around allowed him to land his job at ADP.

That was 14 years ago, though, and the van has more than 230,000 miles on it. Karmgard badly needed a new ride, not only for his job, but to keep up with all his volunteer activities.

Among those activities is his work promoting Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs. He and his wife, Helen, lead the organization's DogFest fundraiser, a national event held in multiple cities around the country.

Karmgard was one of three people nationwide, from among hundreds nominated, to be honored by the NMEDA in this year's Local Heroes Contest. According to the organization, more than 1.1 million votes were cast for the nominees as part of National Mobility Awareness Month in May.

The top 10 percent of vote-getters in each category - general, caregiver and senior - were reviewed by an independent panel of judges, who selected the winners.