Brent’s first car was a 1994 Jeep Wrangler, abused as Jeeps should be, and passed on with love and and exchange of cash from the two previous owners who were close friends. The Jeep carried Brent through mud and water, over rocks and roads. Along the way, we discovered that it simply would not die, muddy water up to the doors, standing on it’s nose, or sitting forlorn for six months, the Jeep kept on kickin’ over every time it was needed. Every encounter with adventure was followed by a loving, careful cleaning, polishing up the Jeep for street use and acceptability in the MacArthur High School parking lot. Brent and the Jeep could do it when no one else could, from towing a much larger 4-wheel drive vehicle more than a mile out of a rugged creek bottom, to towing home a broken-down pickup. For all these reasons and more, I started calling it the Rescue Wrangler, a spin on one of Brent’s favorite childhood TV shows.
The Foundation is partnering with family and friends to restore the Rescue Wrangler to carry on Brent’s heritage of saving lives. The Jeep will become a permanent promotional tool, used in parades, in car shows, and at community events to promote the themes of the Brent Lewis Bridges Foundation – challenging firefighters to be screened for cancer, giving little folks some rugged, All-American values to aspire to as they learn about public service while climbing around on a tricked-out, now classic Jeep.
By giving to the Save the Jeep = Save Lives! campaign, you will be supporting the Foundation in bridging the gaps in cancer detection, education, and nutrition. Donated funds go to the restoration, with any left-over funds going directly to the accounts that provide screening and cancer assistance grants. There are no salaries and no administrative costs taken from these donations. Donations of $1,000 or more will be recognized on the signage that travels to events with the Jeep, on the Foundation web site and FaceBook page, and will be listed on the Good Under The Hood t-shirt.
Everyone has a Jeep story! Brooke’s version: My Bubba, Brent Bridges, a firefighter who at the age of 29 surrendered his life to colon cancer. His Jeep is being restored to promote colon cancer awareness and aid in screening/early detection and treatment. He loved that thing! Always tinkerin’ with it, getting it stuck, taught me to drive standard back when there was nothing on Bulverde road! I killed it at a stop sign and he waved the car behind us on…it was an elderly couple that pulled up and they were kind enough to ask if we needed help and he pointed at me and said “ first time on a stick!” And grinned that real big Brent grin! The elderly lady said, “oh honey, keep trying” and I got passed by the elderly couple! I would never live it down!
For full details see the Save The Jeep page. And yes, that Jeep still has adventures, we drive it around the neighborhood occasionally, even though the make-over is under way.