North Dakota Repair Shop Donates Discarded Vehicles to Technician Training Programs

Bruns Automotive, an auto repair shop in Fargo, North Dakota, is helping local automotive programs gain vehicles for students to work on, reports Valley News Live.

Having served the Fargo/Moorhead area since the early 1960s, the shop now takes on vehicles being sent to the scrapyard to pass on to automotive programs at local schools. 

So far, the shop has donated cars to Fargo-South and Jamestown Valley Tech Center, where students become familiar with different parts of a vehicle by doing jobs like changing lights or alternators.

In addition, if a vehicle is repaired to safe conditions, it’s then donated back to a student in need. Those who choose to donate cars to the program can also claim the cash value of the donated vehicle on tax returns as a donation.

Amy Hagman of Bruns Automotive shared that there is a growing need for cars that automotive students can work on and learn from. The effort has also been partly inspired by the original owner, Mike Bruns—the father of current owners.

“I think he’d be pretty excited if he could be a part of it and I think he’d be happy with how things are going,” said Shane Bruns of Bruns Automotive.

“If he knew that we were doing this and he’d be pretty proud to be honest with you,” added Hagman.