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NHADA Members from ICL Autos and AutoFair Automotive Group Generating Smiles for CHAD Patients with Electric Car
LEBANON – In Japanese, “Shogo” means soaring into the future. In Lebanon, New Hampshire, it means lots of smiles on the faces of young patients at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHAD). Thanks to a heartfelt donation made possible through The New England Honda Dealers, young patients at CHAD now have a unique way to go from their room to various treatments around the hospital site.
Shogo is an electric-powered car, specifically designed to navigate hospital hallways with a focus on helping patients ages 4 through 9. Honda Shogo is easy for children to "drive" by managing the go/stop mechanism on the steering wheel, with an adjustable speed of 1-5 miles per hour. It also can be pushed by a nurse or caregiver by a rear handlebar, which is equipped with an IV pole attachment.
AutoFair Automotive Group General Manager Jason LaCroix helped deliver the Shogo and watched young Sam take it for a test drive. After a couple of moments of shyness, Sam had the car going forward and back, and he was beeping the horn with delight. “This is one of the most fun things I could ever get to do,” explains LaCroix. “What an awesome opportunity to really give back.” Oh, and one more thought, according to LaCroix: “I am confident this will help Sam earn his driver’s license.”
The Lebanon-based facility sees some of the region’s most seriously ill young people. Hospital leaders believe this new car fits well with CHAD’s child-life programming, offering kids emotional support and giving them a chance to perhaps forget their surroundings for a few moments.
Honda Performance Development is donating 60 Shogos to hospitals around the country. According to LaCroix, who is Vice Chair of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association, CHAD was an easy choice for this car.
“The work that they do is spectacular and such a fantastic resource for families in New Hampshire and Vermont that we knew the Shogo would be a great addition to their amazing efforts,” says LaCroix.
Marshall Jespersen of ICL Autos, is Chairman of the NHADA, and was on hand for the delivery of the Shogo to CHAD. “We reached out to CHAD for this donation, and they were excited from the very beginning,” recalls Jespersen. “Although it took some time to become a reality, with a lot of work and heart, it was amazing to hand Shogo off to the hospital, and there are no words to describe watching a young patient with a big smile on his face driving the car down the hospital hallways.”
So far, Honda has donated the cars to about a dozen children’s hospitals across the country, but Dartmouth is New England’s first.
Sam on his test drive of CHAD’s new Shogo electric car:
Image Credit: dartmouth-health.org
Marshall Jespersen (ICL Autos), Jason LaCroix (AutoFair Group), and Michael Nadeau (ICL Autos) pose with CHAD leaders and the Shogo:
