With over 45,000 volunteers in 2017, the Mustard Seed in Red Deer had plenty of help serving the more than 17,000 dinners this year.

But in order to get the donations to the ones in need, they needed a vehicle upgrade as their old van was on its last legs.

The Scottsville Auto Group stepped up to donate a new Nissan cargo van to the Seed, handing off the keys to the Seed down at Kipp Scott GMC Cadillac Buick this morning (Dec.18th).

C.O.O. of the Scottsville Auto Group Garrett Scott says they didn't hesitate to donate once they heard how important this van would be to the Mustard Seed.

“There was just a need. It wasn’t a hard decision whether we should do this or not, I mean they have demand for probably triple the amount of stuff they are already providing, and that hill seems more insurmountable than donating a vehicle.”

Scott says it's more than just a onetime donation, as they will also make sure the vans stays safe on the road for a while to come.

“We made sure that Mustard Seed was looked after with safety as well, this vehicle can’t afford to be off the road, so making sure that maintenance is included for 5 years for them was important, and also the winter tire kit on it as well.”

The new van will travel around the community picking up donations from about 18 different businesses.