Cab Company Donates Van to Family of Disabled Girl

Photo courtesy of Yellow Cab of the Desert

By City News Service

Yellow Cab of the Desert on Friday donated a van outfitted for wheelchair accessibility to the family of a 5-year-old disabled Palm Desert girl.

The 2006 Chevrolet van, donated as part of the company’s Yellow Cab Cares program, was delivered to the family of Shelby Huerta on her birthday, company officials said.

Shelby was born with a chromosome 6-Q deletion, which means she has the physical and mental development of a 6-month-old child and is confined to a wheelchair. A local news station did a story on how difficult it was for her family to transport Shelby around for medical appointments. Yellow Cab of the Desert saw the newscast and decided to donate the van.

“Everyone at the company has been so supportive to get this van ready with an aggressive time schedule to provide it in celebration of her birthday,” said Michal Brock, the taxi company’s general manager.

“The van was just officially retired on May 31, and the mechanics and body shop have been fabulous in giving the van the needed repairs and fresh paint on such a tight time frame,” he said.

The van has more than 300,000 miles on the odometer, but the company paid for engine and transmission repairs, and equipped it with a ramp, tie-downs to hold a wheelchair in place and a higher-than-normal ceiling.

Prestige Auto Body donated a new pink pearl paint job.