AS THE festive season approaches, donations by car distributors to charitable organisations are increasingly sprouting wheels and taking on the form of a passenger van.

Two weeks ago, for example, Cycle & Carriage (C&C) donated three Citroen Dispatch passenger vans worth $150,000 to three voluntary welfare organisations. In early November, Borneo Motors Singapore gave a Toyota Hiace van to a day-care centre for the elderly. In July, motor magnate Karsono Kwee co-donated another Hiace to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Giving away a vehicle instead of money makes more sense since the companies are all in the motor trade. After all, C&C is better known as the exclusive dealer of luxury make Mercedes-Benz but it also distributes Citroen cars and commercial vehicles. Mitsubishi and Kia are the two other marques it represents.

As for Borneo Motors, it is the distributor of Toyota and its luxury division Lexus.

But Mr Kwee donated a Toyota even though his Eurokars Group represents mainly premium marques here like Porsche and Rolls-Royce. In this instance, however, it was a case of meeting the recipient's needs.

'We look at the needs of the organisation,' explains Mr Kwee, adding that the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Patient Care Centre required an ambulance with wheelchair capabilities since its existing vehicle had to be replaced urgently.

'Since we are familiar with vehicles and vehicle modifications, we wanted to fulfil their needs,' says Mr Kwee.

It was a similar story for C&C, which says that as a major automotive group, it receives 'a large number of appeals' every year from welfare organisations requesting a vehicle for transportation, be it for taking residents to and from hospitals, on outings or just to make deliveries.

As part of the gift, C&C also modifies the vehicles for the organisations' use. For example, the three Citroen vans were retrofitted with protective window bars and electric side steps, among other features.

'A lot of time goes into modifying each vehicle according to the needs of the charity,' says Pearling Leong, senior manager for public relations & communications at Jardine Cycle & Carriage.

She adds: 'So we save charities the time and stress by managing all that for them. At the end of the day, we want them to have a vehicle that best suits their purpose.'

As for Borneo Motors, there is also a tale of happy coincidences behind the company's most recent donation.

Unbeknown to Borneo Motors' management, Salem Welfare Services had gone to the Toyota showroom to place a deposit for a Toyota Hiace Commuter Turbo.

Salem, which is a day-care and rehabilitation centre for the elderly, was planning to raise funds to pay for the rest of the then $55,000 cost of the van.

At the same time, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee had approached Borneo Motors director William Choo about helping the centre with its vehicular needs. Prof Ho is the adviser to Nee Soon East Grassroot Organisations, to which Salem belongs.

'We then found out that the home had booked a van,' says Mr Choo. 'They needed a van and we wanted to make a donation, so we refunded the deposit and gave them the van. All the pieces came together very nicely.'

Borneo Motors also installed the wheelchair-lifting hoist from the old van into the new van.

'The home was happy, Prof Ho was happy and we were happy. So everyone was happy,' the affable Mr Choo says with a laugh.

Another common feature among the three companies is that this is not the first time they have donated a vehicle to a charity.

In 2004, Borneo Motors also gave a van to Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre. C&C has donated Mercedes-Benz Vito and Mitsubishi L300 vans previously, while the Eurokars Group gave the Red Cross an ambulance in 2002.

Jardine C&C's Ms Leong puts it best when she says: 'It is only natural that as motor distributors, we help out by doing what we do best - sponsoring specially modified vehicles as opposed to just donating cash, which any other corporation or individual can easily do.'