Ami Pistone behind the wheel of a new-to-her car donated as an act of inspiring charity

By Spencer Sterritt

generous spirit

Car donation hoped to spark generous community spirit

May 19, 2019 | 4:48 AM

NANAIMO — The single mother of a child with special needs is now back on the road thanks to an inspiring act of kindness.

Ami Pistone was forced to rely on loaned or rented cars after her Volkswagon was destroyed during a late April windstorm by a falling gas station sign. As she told NanaimoNewsNOW, public transit isn’t an option with her son and a busy schedule.

On Friday, May 17, she drove off the lot of Supertech Diesel with a refurbished Mazda 3, donated by co-owners Mike Deciantis and Davina Neave.

“I feel like Nanaimo can sometimes be a lonely place when you’re struggling. But this act of kindness makes it feel more like a community.” _{Ami Pistone}

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She can now comfortably get her and her son to school, work and around Vancouver Island to visit family.

Deciantis and Neave said they hope the car donation will inspire more shops and businesses to directly help those who’re struggling locally.

(from left) Davina Neave, Ami Pistone, Mike Deciantis outside Supertech Diesel on Friday, May 17. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The charitable drive comes from deep in Deciantis’ past when he worked as a shop in Texas.

“There was a guy who ran the shop and the amount of stuff he did in his community was inspiring. It wasn’t about promoting his shop at all. When you see other businesses in the community (donating), it’s inspiring.”

The Mazda 3 was initially bought from a customer who was going to walk away from it. Neave said they weren’t sure what they were going to use it for, but then Pistone came to their shop for the pre-inspection of a different car.

“She was explaining how hard it was to find a car right now and got into her story about what happened. It just all of a sudden clicked in my head that we had this car and this would be perfect.”

She and Deciantis said they weren’t sure how to go forward, if it would be a certain number of donations a year or what their selection process would be.

The overall hope is there’s no need to sift through folks in need because other businesses will step up and help out as much as they can.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit