Elgin woman gets a new (used) car)

It wasn't exactly the "Oprah" episode where every audience member got a new car.

But there was some magic recently at a local auto repair shop where a 69-year-old Elgin woman, who is retired and on disability, received a better car through the "Bumper to Bumper Charity Cars Campaign" and the help of others.

The 2000 Dodge Intrepid, which only has about 74,000 miles on it, will replace an older 1995 Dodge Concorde, which the woman said was "always in the shop."

"I'm just really grateful for it," she said. "I was praying 'What am I going to do when this car falls apart?' All of a sudden, I found out I was getting this car."

Tom's Auto Clinic in downtown Elgin donated about $1,200 to $1,400 worth of work on the vehicle; Elgin-based Lee Auto Parts donated the parts.

Clinic owner Tom Brockner said the Intrepid marked the third charity car his shop has worked on since the program began in 2005.

"Giving back to the community is part of what business is today. It's rewarding," Brockner said. "When you see somebody that has another opportunity to do something with their life and you can be a part of it, that's a good feeling."

Cathy Rankin, a member of the marketing department at the Elgin-based Lee Auto Parts, said people at the company several years ago brainstormed ways to give back to the community.

"We said 'What do we do best?' And that's fix cars," she said, noting her group has donated at least 200 cars. "We took that to a national level last year."

The woman, who was referred to the charity car program by the St. Mary Conference of St. Vincent DePaul Society, plans to give her old car to Brockner for parts.

For more information, visit 800charitycars.org.

Good year, tough season: A year of solid fundraising for a South Elgin foundation that helps kids with cancer and their families ended with a swing and a miss.

The annual Juniper Lane holiday light display raised about $1,600, about half of what it did in 2007, for Cal's All-Star Angels Foundation.

"It's not surprising," said Tom Sutter, Cal's Angels founder. "The weather was bad this year. They were only outside a handful of nights instead of last year when they were outside almost every night. And you have the economy, that's a direct correlation. Hopefully, our fundraising doesn't go along those lines."

Sutter said the group raised about $110,000 in 2008, an increase over the $100,000 garnered in 2007.

For more information, visit calsangels.org.

The foundation also is primed for 2009 with a new event.

The first Cal's All-Star Angel Spa Benefit will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 22 at Aviva MedSpa, 3310 W. Main St., Charles.

A $100 ticket provides more than $200 in spa services and

10 percent of revenue from additional services goes directly to Cal's Angels.

For more information or reservations, call (630) 940-0192.