Attendees of a recent RCRI Annual Conference gather to hear the keynote address.

The Resource Center for Religious Institutes (RCRI) held their 2024 RCRI Annual Conference at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida from Oct. 1 – Oct. 4. Caritas Vehicle Services has participated in the RCRI Conference for many years, and was honored to be invited to host a workshop at this year’s convening.

The conference is known for being a highly informative and collaborative event. Each year, representatives from RCRI member organizations are given the opportunity to network with peers, develop new partnerships, and learn about a variety of resources from service providers and RCRI partners like Caritas.

If you watched the 2024 Paris Olympics from somewhere within the U.S. this summer, you may have noticed a brand-new, recurring commercial advertising the latest in Chevrolet’s lineup of electric vehicles (EV’s), the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV.

An eco-friendly reimagining of the fourth-generation Chevrolet Equinox, this new EV has finally hit the market, after reports from as far back as 2023 anticipated its release to be sometime in “mid-2024.”

Now the long-awaited vehicle has officially landed for sale across the country. And it’s not only “green,” i.e. good for the planet; its base model is nearly as affordable as an average sedan, such as the Toyota Corolla, and it has a practical interior that sets it apart from other crossover SUV’s.

Each fresh-off-the-line model boasts a level of comfort to assuage those who are used to full-sized vehicles. Perhaps most importantly, every model comes readily equipped with an impressive array of cutting-edge safety features.

NASA reported on August 14 that July 2023 was the hottest month globally in their records. The report is yet another reminder of the international climate emergency that looms over all of our human activities.

On the heels of this report, among others, have been calls for individuals to keep track of and work to reduce or offset their carbon footprint. While individual consumers are not wholly responsible for the climate crisis, everyone does have a carbon footprint.

Battery-powered electric cars, otherwise known as electric vehicles or EV’s, are becoming ever more common on U.S. roads and highways. According to J.D. Power, sales of EV’s rose from 3.2% [of the auto market] in 2021 to 5.8% in 2022, a two-thirds increase that is only expected to continue as more vehicle body types and public charging stations become available.  

According to a recent Caritas Vehicle Services survey, one of the current challenges in managing transportation for Religious Communities is not having the budget needed to replace all of their old, high-mileage vehicles. This is a growing problem that requires a creative financial solution. The following Case Study highlights how one Community devised a workable solution for "renewing" their vehicle fleet.

At Caritas Vehicle Services, Our Mission is To Serve. We take special care in providing the transportation needs for your community so you have more time to focus on your community's unique mission.

The following is the story of one of our esteemed clients and their congregation’s 100 years of good stewardship and selfless service to their community in Merrill, Wisconsin.

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Eight years ago, Pope Francis released his second encyclical with the aim of uniting the Catholic world towards a common purpose. His literary proclamation, published by the Vatican in 2015, is titled: Laudato Si’: One Care for Our Common Home. It approaches environmental issues with a keen eye and a kind heart, deftly calling everyone to their roles as stewards of the Earth. And recommending that we assume our role together.

To explore recent developments in the auto industry, we interviewed our Director of Fleet Management, Brad Forbush. Brad has 40 years of experience in the auto industry and 10 years of service at Caritas Vehicle Services.

The conditions of the automotive marketplace have changed dramatically since the beginning of the Covid pandemic and the global supply chain crisis.  In our interview, Brad recommends strategies that will help when you need to purchase a new vehicles despite certain challenges in today's market.

What is a carbon footprint?

Everything we do requires some output of energy. Every time you switch on a light, access the Internet, or, in the case of fleets, every time you or your driver start up a car -- you are using energy. When going about our daily lives constantly using energy, greenhouse gases are released.

The sum of your greenhouse gas output over the course of a year is your carbon footprint. It varies individual to individual, but everyone has one.

Here are several indisputable facts:

• The Earth rotates on an axis around the Sun
• Water is wet
• The globe is warming at an unprecendented rate, causing a myriad of issues from global ice caps melting to rampant wildfires in Australia and the U.S.

The statements above are scientific facts. According to Climate.gov, "... the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit (0.08 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 (0.18°C / 0.32°F) has been more than twice that rate."¹