STEVENSVILLE — Seven finalists faced off in the United Way of Southwest Michigan Car Challenge on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Tyler Automotive in Stevensville. The finalists were given a random key, and one of those keys started the car.

John Taylor, a GIS specialist at Whirlpool, was the winner of a two-year lease on a sub-compact vehicle from Tyler Automotive.

“That was pretty wild,” Taylor said when the car started.

“Believe it or not, I’ve never won anything in my life,” he exclaimed to the crowd at the dealership.

To help incentivize last year’s campaign, United Way of Southwest Michigan partnered with Tyler Automotive to provide a Car Challenge. Donors who gave $156 (or $3 per week) were automatically entered into a drawing to be eligible. The finalist names were drawn and announced on Feb. 7 on a Facebook Livestream.

“We love partnering with United Way on this fun incentive for their campaign,” said Chris Tyler, who owns Tyler Automotive. “We hope it raises awareness of what United Way does for this area and that each person can make quite an impact with their donation.”

A gift of $3 a week for a year has big impact, said United Way officials. It provides:

• 34 meals for someone dealing with food insecurity

• Two months of support to help a young child learn to read

• One free book for a child every month for 5 years

• School supplies for 8 kids to start the school year

• Support for two individuals to address their mental health

• One year of a physical activity/nutrition program for a school-age youth

United Way of Southwest Michigan officials said they are thankful to all who donated last year for helping to make the campaign a success and to Tyler Automotive for its support.