Kars4Kids: Investigations and lawsuits dog billion-dollar nonprofit

• 95% of cash raised through the car-donation program is funneled to a Lakewood-based charity that uses a portion of the funds to promote Jewish theology among both children and adults.
• Kars4kids accounts for about 13% of all the car donations nationwide annually.
• Overhead costs far exceed the acceptable standard practice by nonprofits, according to watchdog agencies.
• At least eight executives of Kars4kids and its main charity arm Oorah are paid more than $100,000 annually.

Lakewood-based Kars4Kids, cemented in the brains of millions by that ubiquitous radio jingle, has built a multi-million-dollar fundraising empire based on the simple premise of car donations to benefit children.

While that happy jingle burrows into our brains, the charity is spending more than two-thirds of its millions in annual revenue on advertising and overhead, a practice a national expert called "absolutely unacceptable." In addition, Kars4Kids has faced government investigations in multiple states for deceptive promotion.

But it also limits most of its focus to Jewish-related religious programs, and spends at least half its donations on adults, facts absent from its advertisements and the homepage of its website. In fact, on its homepage, this blurb appears prominently:

You Help Kids

"The proceeds from your vehicle supports the youth and educational programs of national nonprofit Kars4Kids and our sister charity Oorah.

That practice, according to one lawsuit, deceives donors about the true goal of the donations for the purpose of getting more donations.

As Kars4Kids celebrates more than 30 years, an Asbury Park Press investigation into the $80 million-a-year operation has raised questions about its methods that have drawn accusations of being misleading at best and fraudulent at worse.

Among the findings:

• A recent federal lawsuit claims the KarsKids ads are deceptive and accuses the charity of mail and wire fraud, and racketeering. The complaint describes the non-profit's approach as “a scheme to deceive unwitting donors into donating their vehicles for undisclosed and misrepresented purposes.” It also calls it “fraudulent conduct.”
• Nearly 40% of Kars4Kids revenue has gone toward advertising, much of it to Google to ensure top search engine results, an expenditure considered far beyond the amount nonprofits should spend.
• In 2024, Kars4Kids spent more money, $41.5 million, on advertising than it spent for its main charity, Oorah, which received $35.3 million. It also spent some $5.3 million on salaries, which do not include the eight high-level administrators who take home more than $100,000 each.
• More than 95% of the cash raised through car-donations and other sources is funneled to a sister charity that uses most of its revenue to promote Jewish theology, with a large portion focused on adults including a Jewish dating retreat.
• Since 2008, the first year for which records are available, Kars4Kids has collected more than 1.6 million vehicles with an estimated value of $955 million, according to tax records. That’s an average value of just under $600 each.
• Since 2009, three state government investigations have found that Kars4Kids had not properly informed would-be donors that they were contributing to a religious organization. The fundraising outfit serves customers in all 50 states.
• All vehicles either go for scrap or to an auto reseller, but at least half wind up in a junkyard.

Operating out of a non-descript group of buildings on Swarthmore Avenue alongside light industrial manufacturers, Kars4Kids' campus also houses other non-profits that all focus on promoting Jewish faith and Orthodox awareness.

The top recipient organization is Oorah, a New Jersey nonprofit housed in the same location that receives most of the Kars4Kids income and distributes it through a web of programs ranging from religious education to Jewish-themed camps. The group is headed by the same CEO as Kars4Kids and holds more than $200 million in assets, including an Upstate New York retreat resort.

Tax records indicate less than half of the revenue received by Kars4Kids since 2008 has gone to Oorah, its primary charity, with the remaining income spent on overhead, advertising, and more than 150 employees, including eight who each earn more than $100,000 annually.

The excessive spending on non-program categories drew a warning from an expert in nonprofit operations.

“Absolutely unacceptable, that can't be justified,” Ruth McCambridge, a nonprofit finance expert and former editor of Non-Profit Quarterly, said about the advertising and overhead costs. “It is generally outside of what people expect to see. Costs for fundraising should be modest.”

Kars4Kids financial breakdown seems to fall below the standards of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, which states that at least 65% of a charity's activities be directed to its charitable program services. Kars4Kids' spending was just 41%.

Robert Moskovits, Kars4Kids president and a former Oorah staffer, said the charity's high overhead is based on its unique fundraising approach, which relies on personal donations and no large-scale corporate or million-dollar endowments.

"We are not doing the traditional fundraising. We are taking cars and we need to spend money, and it is marketing, there is a competitive approach," he said in an interview. "The large expense is not salaries; it is marketing to do more donations. We wish we could spend less, but when we spend more, we get more. It may not look great on paper, but it works."

'A scheme to deceive unwitting donors'

With operations coast to coast and in every state, meanwhile, a class action lawsuit filed in California accuses Kars4Kids of a long list of misdeeds, including misleading ads, mail and wire fraud, and even racketeering.

Filed in November 2025, the lawsuit calls the organization’s methods “a scheme to deceive unwitting donors into donating their vehicles for undisclosed and misrepresented purposes.” It also claims that “as a result of their fraudulent conduct…Kars4Kids was able to obtain significantly more vehicle donations.”

The legal complaint, filed in U.S. Federal Court in Northern California on behalf of two San Francisco car donors, even takes a shot at Kars4Kids’ famous ad jingle, calling it “annoying” and saying it had “plagued the nation.”

Such scrutiny and claims are not new to the fundraising entity.

Since 2009, three state government investigations found that Kars4Kids had not properly informed would-be donors that they were contributing to a religious organization.

In several cases, it misled contributors into thinking the donations would benefit children in their home state.

In reality, more than 95% of cash raised through the car-donation program is funneled to Oorah, which uses a large portion of the funds to promote Jewish theology, in many cases for adults.

Kars4Kids claims the ads are not deceptive and focus on the service they provide to car owners, not the final recipients of the eventual cash payments.

“We are looking for one thing, just the service, just the car,” said Moskovits, who is paid $157,442 annually by the nonprofit. “We want to brand it to you in your mind so that when you need to donate, you know our service.”

Oorah has raised more than half a billion dollars since 2008, according to tax records, with a majority of the funds coming from Kar4Kids. Both organizations are headed by one person, Eliyohu Mintz, who declined to be interviewed for this story.

Mintz is paid more than $180,000 annually from all of the related groups.

While it provides services such as youth camps and other programs for youngsters, it also serves thousands of adults and focuses solely on Jewish clients, with a clear directive to promote and support their religious affiliation.

Moskovits offers that up to $50,000 of its $80 million annual budget is funneled through the charity's Small Grant Program, which helps non-religious groups such as The United Way or Big Brothers of America with events ranging from backpack giveaways to mentoring programs.

Kars4kids, Oorah hit for thousands of dollars for advertisements

Oorah’s mission and programs “share the common goal of opening doors for Jewish children and families. With our extensive network, we make connections and facilitate relationships, reaching out to Jewish families everywhere with opportunities to make their Judaic heritage more personal, relevant and meaningful," according to its website.

Critics contend that such a narrow religious focus is not clearly presented in the Kars4kids ads and jingle, which state only that the donations go to help “kids.”

“The radio, television and internet advertisements do not disclose that the charitable funds are targeted primarily to children in New York and New Jersey,” former Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson stated in a 2017 report critical of the charity. “And that Kars4Kids’s and Oorah’s primary purpose is to promote Orthodox Judaism to Jewish children.”

That same year, the nonprofit CharityWatch.org criticized Kars4Kids, stating the organization deceives potential donors “by failing to inform them that donated cars will benefit a Jewish organization and kids of Jewish faith.”

Swanson’s report noted that while Kars4Kids had raised $3 million from Minnesota donors between 2012 and 2014, only $11,600 was spent by the charity in that state.

In 2009, when Kars4Kids also used the named Joy for Youth, investigations by state officials in Pennsylvania and Oregon prompted rebukes and more than $100,000 in fines, according to Charitywatch.org.

Pennsylvania’s Attorney General accused the car-donor outfit of publishing “advertisements that did not limit benefits to any particular group of children when, in fact, substantially all donations were remitted to Oorah, whose programs benefit a particular group of children.”

That led to a $45,000 fine for restitutions to be distributed to various children’s charities in the state plus $20,000 in penalties and investigative costs. They were also required to add detailed disclosures to all Pennsylvania solicitations revealing the religious nature of its programs.

In Oregon, the charity was required to pay $65,000 and “change its misleading solicitation practices,” after the Oregon Department of Justice investigated the same year, according to CharityWatch.org.

Oregon officials also criticized the charity’s vacation voucher incentive, saying it “failed to disclose that its ‘free vacation’ offer was designed to recruit people to attend timeshare presentations.”

Moskovits acknowledged the state probes and resulting fines and said they had been in the past and any needed changes were instituted.

“One was very specific to Oregan with the vacation voucher. You cannot use the term ‘free’ even if it has no cost, we had to amend our advertising and we do not offer the vacation voucher in Oregan at all," he said. "Pennsylvania was regarding disclosures. We have amended that.

“The Minnesota one took a lot of issues with a lot of things and in the end of the day it was just very subjective that we are suffering a lot from. Their big finding was we raised money in Minnesota and only 1% was spent in that state. There was no requirement to spend money in that state. That has never been a requirement.”

Among the "Worst Charities in America"

Charity Navigator, one of the top charity watchdog organizations, gives Kars4Kids a 71 out of 100 points on its scale of quality and accountability and just two out of four stars.

In 2024, CharityWatch, another top non-profit monitor, listed Kars4Kids among its "Worst Charities in America," stating its "marketing and fundraising practices are not always transparent about the charity’s true mission." It gave the charity a Grade of D.

It also stated that "Kars4Kids does not raise and spend its donations very efficiently," noting that a review of its 2023 consolidated financial statements and other tax documents found that the fundraising entity spent only 41% of its total expenses on charitable programs that year, declaring it cost the charity $48 to raise each $100 in cash support. CharityWatch offered similar critiques in 2010 and 2017.

Moskovits claimed that many of the Chairty Watch findings "are inaccurate about understanding our business and the numbers. We have reached out to them. They often take a raw number and go by that.”

When asked which issues were inaccurate, he did not say.

The Better Business Bureau Giving Alliance notes that Kars4Kids has refused to supply them with any financial information when it was requested.

The recent class action lawsuit accuses Kars4Kids of violating several aspects of California and federal law, including racketeering, unfair competition, and deceptive advertising.

As a class action, it will continue to seek more people with stories similar to the two initial plaintiffs, Pavel Savva and Alexander Vickers. Calls to their lawyers have gone unanswered.

The lawsuit cites what it deems misleading advertising in the Kars4Kids jingle and commercials, which say simply the money will go to kids, but does not disclose the Jewish focus or services for thousands of adults.

“These ads are clearly designed to make potential donors believe that Kars4Kids will use their donations to benefit local needy or disadvantaged children regardless of any particular ethnic, religious or ideological affiliation,” the lawsuit states. “What these ads fail to inform donors, however, is that their donations are instead simply transferred to Oorah, the ‘program arm’ of this enterprise, to fund its promotion of shared ideology to non-orthodox Jewish families, to the exclusion of all others, predominantly in New York and New Jersey.”

The suit also claims that “the majority of donations processed are used not for charitable purposes but are instead used by both Kars4Kids and Oorah to fund their significant proselytizing expenses and investments.”

Moskovits said the lawsuit was misleading and claimed the lawyers involved were just looking for former donors to use in an effort to unfairly challenge the charity.

“The short of it is that these are lawyers who are looking to profit, they find donors who are looking to give,” he said. “We don’t believe the claim.”

A review of Kars4Kids 2024 tax records, the most recent available, finds that the organization received $80.7 million in revenue that year, but passed on less than half, $35.3 million, to Oorah.

In the suit, plaintiffs Savva and Vickers claim to have “suffered damages in the form of lost property donated under false pretenses because of (the charity’s) conduct.” 

Vickers, Savva and their attorneys did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Where does your car end up? And your boat? Your plane? Your house?

Launched in 1994 by Rabbi Chaim Mintz, a Staten Island-based charity organizer, Kars4Kids began raising funds primarily for Oorah on a smaller scale that also included selling popcorn and other snacks at local New York events.

Kars4Kids’ fundraising focus is on donated cars that it collects through a phone and web system and sells through auto resellers or scrap metal dealers.

In 2014, they added boats, planes, clothing and real estate to the donation list, all of which have brought in more than $65 million in the past 10 years alone.

Those who wish to donate a vehicle call the hotline at 877-Kars4Kids and speak to an agent who gathers information on the vehicle such as its make, model, age, mileage and overall condition, according to Moskovits.

Kars4Kids staffers then assess if the vehicle is worth reselling or only eligible for scrap metal, he said. The charity contacts an auto reseller or scrap metal dealer closest to the donor and the vehicle is picked up by that dealer.

If the car goes for scrap metal, a price is negotiated between the dealer and Kars4Kids and the charity receives payment, with a fee deducted for the dealer.

Then a receipt of up to $500 is provided to the donor, who can seek an IRS tax deduction of up to $500 under federal law.

If the car is deemed worthy of resale, an auto reseller picks it up and places it up for auction or resale through its own sales procedure. Once the vehicle is sold, the payment is transferred to Kars4Kids with a negotiated fee deducted for the reseller.

The donor then receives a receipt for the full amount of the sale and is allowed by law to deduct that full amount, according to the IRS.

“If it sells for $2,000, you get the $2,000 deduction,” said Moskovits, who estimates the average resale price at between $800 and $900. “It is a huge industry." He said they do not handle sales themselves: “We get calls a lot, but we don’t work that way. This is a lot easier.”

KarsKids is not the only charity raising money through car donations, according to ImpactfulNinja, which monitors philanthropic activities. They estimate up to 800,000 cars are donated annually to charities ranging from the American Breast Cancer Foundation to WNYC Public Radio in New York.

Kars4Kids donations by the numbers

Since 2008, the first year for which records are available, Kars4Kids has collected more than 1.6 million vehicles with an estimated value of $955 million, according to tax records. That’s an average value of just under $600 each.

Total revenue for Kars4Kids during that time came to just over $934 million, which is less than the estimated value for the donated cars since many often do not sell for their full value or sell for scrap, officials said, estimating that at least half of the cars end up on the junk pile.

Since 2014, the charity has also raised $52 million from donations of real estate, $12 million from boats and planes and more than $4 million from household goods and clothing, according to tax records.

Kars4kids spent $345.2 million, about one-third of its revenue, on advertising during that time, while donating $454.7 million to Oorah, the non-profit organization that is solely dedicated to educating children and adults in the Jewish faith.

In 2024, Kars4Kids received 104,756 auto donations and total revenue of nearly $95 million. Of that revenue, cars accounted for $86.4 million, boats and planes for $1.1 million, while household goods and clothing brought in a similar share. Real estate donations, however, raised more than $5 million in revenue.

Moskovits contends the charity needs to spend heavily on advertising, most of which goes to Google, because that is the best value for its needs. He says most of the Google money is needed to make sure Kars4Kids takes the top spot when would-be donors search.

“The nature of it is very competitive, it is a very sad fact, but our model is not the traditional model,” he said. “We want to brand it in your mind, we just talk about the car. We keep it simple and you still see it on the website. We want you to come to the website.”

Kars4Kids high spending on advertising and promotion and salaries, up to 50% or more in recent years, seems at odds with non-profit averages, according to those who track such information.

Feathr, which advises and follows non-profit groups nationwide, stated that a survey of 7,000 fundraising groups found that the typical nonprofit allocates $13,000 annually to paid advertising, which equates to about $1,000 per month, representing .66% of total expenses on average.

The Florida Non-Profit Alliance said its own surveys have found most non-profit organizations keep overhead in the 20-35% range. It also cites a 2012 poll that said the average American believed that a nonprofit should not spend more than 23% on overhead.

Inside Kars4Kids headquarters in Lakewood and its salaries

At first glance, the single-story headquarters of Kars4Kids and Oorah in Lakewood’s growing industrial zone resembles a small manufacturing office or local medical building more than the base of the country’s most famous car donation operation.

The busy parking lot is usually filled, but not with donated cars. These vehicles belong to many of the organization’s employees, about half of whom work out of the non-descript mix of trailer-like buildings that house the charity’s brain trust.

Inside, a large call center takes up the location’s largest room with rows of tables and chairs and dozens of consoles and phones manned by operators who spend hours each day handling would-be donors from South Jersey to South Dakota.

“We are getting used to the hybrid model, we have many employees who are working remotely,” said Moskovits. “Pre-covid most of them were in this office.”

Free daily lunches are among the perks for the 50 or 60 staffers who show up daily, along with a “multipurpose room” often used for prayers, spokeswoman Wendy Kirwan said.

While many donors can do all the necessary paperwork online and await the eventual pick up, hundreds still take the direct approach and call the famous toll-free number, Moskovits said.

“We take any car unless it is inaccessible, has weeds growing out of it or something,” he said. “If it has no tires and can’t be towed, that’s about it.”

Moskovits, a 25-year Lakewood resident, started with the non-profit as an Oorah volunteer in 1999. After 10 years, he was hired by Kars4Kids as a business development staffer and rose through the ranks, becoming president in 2024.

Moskovits' annual salary of $157,442 is the highest compensation of all Kars4Kids executives.

Founder Chaim Mintz no longer has an official title or office with Kars4Kids, according to Kirwan. But he still serves on the Oorah board of trustees, for which he received $34,457 in 2024, according to tax records. ​

Mintz’s son, Eliyohu Mintz, is listed as CEO of both Kars4Kids and Oorah and takes home more than $118,000 per year, along with another $62,185 that is listed as an “estimated amount of other compensation from the organization and related organizations” on tax forms.

Asked to explain the other compensation for Mintz, Moskovits did not know: "It may be benefits and other income, ancillary salary and benefits. I’m not sure.”

Kars4Kids name raises "a red flag"

Experts in the nonprofit field have mixed views on Kars4Kids approach and the claims against them.

Cleopatra Charles, a Rutgers University associate professor of non-profit financial management, said the name is clearly misleading because it does not mention the Jewish affiliation or the programs funded for adults.

“You can’t really tell what the organization is focused on just based on the name of the organization, and what is the mission of the organization? That itself would a red flag," said Charles. “When you say Kars4Kids what came to my mind is a nonprofit for kids with cancer or expensive treatments or something and they will help parents with treatment, that type of stuff. It is not very clear."

Doug White, a former director of the non-profit management program at Columbia University and a Kars4Kids advisor, said the charity is “doing a lot of things well” but needs to be more forthcoming.

“The one thing they need to be better at is being transparent, they just don’t talk about themselves,” White said. “It has given birth to a lot of the criticisms.”

He called the Minnesota investigative findings “pretty scathing” and said more information about where the money goes should be placed in the ads.

“One of the concerns is they don’t specify that in their advertising,” White said. “They are an unusual organization. They have a different operating model than most charitable organizations.”

McCambridge, the non-profit finance expert and former editor of Non-Profit Quarterly, said using more than half of the donations for advertising and overhead costs is troubling.

“The bigger issue is about anybody taking close to half or a majority of dollars in the effort of fundraising. Costs for fundraising should be modest.," she said. “It is generally outside of what people expect to see. It is a cost of doing business but the business isn’t charity the business is fundraising for profit.”

Dan Pallotta, a veteran philanthropist and president of the Charity Defense Council, said Kars4Kids should promote its Jewish-related charities, not try to hide them.

“I think if they are proud that would be added value to the organization," he said. "Maybe they are battling some kind of anti-Jewish sentiment, that is not really cool. Stand up for principals.”

But Pallotta defended Kars4Kids overall operation and said the ads are not as misleading as some believe, noting donors should do more checking if they are going to give away something as valuable as a car or land.

“It’s up to the donor to ask questions,” Pallotta said. “If you are donating your car without knowing where the money is going that’s on your part.”

Moskovits agreed, saying that many charities do not offer specifics in their fundraising material and claimed Kars4Kids explains everything on its website.

“If they ask, we are glad to tell them," he said. "Sometimes if you donate to the United Way, you don't know every program they fund. I assume what they do is good, or the American Lung Association. I do not know exactly what they do."

Where does Oorah give money? Mideast, Africa and Junk for Joy

Oorah Inc., the main recipient of Kars4Kids charitable donations to the tune of more than $35 million last year, gets its name from the Hebrew phrase for light, radiance, or dawn. Many describe it as a call to “awaken” the Jewish people.

For Motti Cohen, Oorah’s community liaison, the description seems to fit.

“Our mission is that people know their Jewish heritage and their Jewish values and where they’re from,” said Cohen, who’s been with the organization for seven years. “It makes them more well-rounded citizens and people.”

A review of Oorah finances finds that of its $39 million annual budget, most of which comes from Kars4Kids, nearly $6 million goes to organizations in Africa and the Middle East "to promote religious education"; $5.4 million goes to office expenses; and $3.9 million to conferences and outside meetings.

Asked what the foreign aid goes to in the Middle East and Africa, Kars4Kids spokesperson Kirwan said via email, "That would be for Oorah affiliates in Israel - Oorah has programming for US students studying abroad in Israel. Support for the students like stipends, weekly study/chill groups, weekend retreats, that kind of thing."

She declined to offer further information on the foreign donations, including aid to Africa.

Oorah also donated more than $2 million to other U.S.-based organizations, including more than half of that to Junk for Joy of Plano, TX., which describes itself as a car donation organization raising funds for "a good cause" on its website, but makes no mention of where its funds go.

Charity Navigator, which monitors non-profit organizations, gave Junk for Joy one of its lowest ratings, 35 out of 100, and no stars out of five, in a recent review, due mostly to a lack of financial statements. Eliyohu Mintz, the leader of both Oorah and Kars4Kids, is also listed as its president.

Other domestic entities receiving Oorah funds include Agudah Israel of America in New York, a more than 100-year-old organization representing Haredi (ultra‑Orthodox) Jewish communities in the United States, and six Yeshiva organizations, most located in Lakewood.

Cohen makes no bones about the fact that Oorah’s focus is on spreading the Jewish word and helping those either raised in the faith or curious to join get what the need to make it happen.

Kids and adults alike.

While the Kars4Kids ads and jingle tout the charity’s help for children, at least half of those served by Oorah are adults, Cohen said.

“It’s about half and half,” he said of the adult/child ratio. “To connect them with the Jewish heritage whatever they want, we will service. We will teach it and connect it.”

The most well-known aspect of Oorah’s work are its two Jewish youth camps in Stamford, N.Y., known as The Zone, which serve about 1,200 youth campers each summer in separate boys and girls locations, Cohen said. The site is also used for Jewish adult dating retreats known as Rebbetzins that claim to have resulted in more than 2,300 engagements in the past 12 years, according to its website.

Youngsters are the focus of Junior Torah Mates, a mentoring program serving about 2,000 youngsters nationwide through one-on-one religious guidance.

Then there is The Chill Zone – a youth program in local synagogues that allows for socializing among Jewish children, serving about 4,000 youngsters in 90 locations nationwide and in Canada, he said.

But adults also have their place in the Oorah program menu.

Torah Mates, an adult Jewish mentoring program, actually serves more than three times as many clients as its youth-focused counterpart, about 7,000, Cohen said.

In addition, thousands of adults benefit from Oorah’s educational outreach materials that are sent nationwide, often through local synagogues and organizations.

“I network with local rabbis and communities throughout the country and they get leads of people who are needing service,” Cohen said. “The majority of the people who want to learn more have not had a Jewish upbringing, the vast majority did not have religious upbringing, they are entry level and learning basic Hebrew tradition. Basic Torah.”

Oorah listed eight staffers with six-figure incomes and an overall payroll of more than $11 million, about 25% of its overall expenses. The non-profit also boasts more than $200 million in assets, including more than $100 million worth of land, buildings and equipment.

Asked if the Kars4Kids ads and slogans are misleading because they do not mention the Jewish aspect or the thousands of adults who are helped by Oorah, Cohen said the original focus was on children.

“It started off with the youth, that was how it started and it has evolved naturally,” he said. “We do have 7,000 (adults served by mentors) because adults are more consistent. “

Moskovits echoed that view: “The families is in the context of the kids, most of them are child focused and as part of that we work with the whole family in the context of the kids. Most of the money spent is on children."

Key to the operation: Scrap yard dealers and auto auctions

Scrap metal dealers and auto resellers nationwide play a key part in the Kars4Kids success, with several saying they find it a smooth and easy way to do business.

While dealers from outside New Jersey offered opinions on Kars4Kids operations, the dealers in the state declined to either answer telephone calls or emails, or when reached, declined to discuss their affiliations with the nonprofit.

Kars4Kids recommended speaking with Klein Recycling of Hillsborough and Modern Day Recycling in Barnegat, two New Jersey-based scrap metal junk dealers that receive Kars4Kids donations, about the charity's work. But neither were willing to comment.

Calls to Klein Recycling were not returned while Michael DeRario of Modern Day Recycling said at first via email that the company's owners were not available. Contacted again a week later, he emailed that "they’d rather opt out. Thank you."

Asked about the lack of Garden State dealers' comment, Kars4Kids Spokesperson Kirwan said via email, "seems like our New Jersey vendors are shy!" She then declined to offer more local vendors or a list of those who take the cars from the charity for scrap or resale, stating "That’s proprietary information, I’m sorry we can’t share."

“They have been great,” said Elliott Shuford of Pullapart.com, an Atlanta-based company that sells auto parts and scrap metal and has been buying from Kars4Kids for years. “They have good communications, they’re thorough and with good information.”

Ryan Luca, sales manager for Copart, a salvage car auction firm in Dallas, agreed.

“It has been positive,” he said. “A great working experience and knowing that we can rely on them we have been able to provide them with great assistance.”

Jeff Barna, regional director of operations for Select Exterminating in Middletown, N.Y., says his firm donates several vehicles each year when they need to upgrade to a newer fleet.

“They get lots of miles on them and rather than scrap them we would like to put them to good use,” said Barna. “We prefer to donate, it is doing some good for the community. It is a lot easier to have them do the leg work for us, we don’t have to spend the time and work force to do it.”

He said the most recent donation was a 2021 Dodge Promaster van with 90,000 miles that his firm handed over on Nov. 22, 2025. Barna said a receipt for the $3,500 sales price deduction came through on Dec. 18, 2025

“I went on to the website to put in the information, they asked about mileage, title, and I spent less than 60 seconds to put the information in,” he recalled. “I submitted it and within less than a hour I had a call from Copart, they came and picked it up.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 35 years’ experience who covers Lakewood, Jackson, and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of four books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at [email protected] and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter and TruthSocial at @joestrupp