Suchon Donates Almost $2,000 in Food to Hi Rise

By Brandi Makuski

The owner of Dave’s Body Shop on Wednesday donated almost $2,000 worth of food to the downtown Hi Rise.

Dave Suchon, who is well-known for giving back to the community, said he’s always been interested in helping out those in need. For years he’s donated brand new bicycles to local school children, and recently began donating brand new socks and underwear for students in need at Kennedy Elementary.

But his interest in helping out the Downtown Hi Rise began in 1988 after fixing a local nun’s vehicle.

Suchon first met Sister Sister Leone Juszczyk when she brought her car into Dave’s Body Shop for repairs. The two hit it off, and over the next three decades, Jusozczyk — a resident of the downtown Hi Rise until she died in April 2017 — would call Suchon for help.

Suchon and his wife Donna donate to the Hi Rise about twice each year, but he estimates giving a total of about $20,000 away in donations, to include the bicycles and clothing, along with donuts for local law enforcement and fire departments.

“We used to go to all the car dealerships in the area and give them nice meat and cheese trays every Christmas,” Suchon said. “She [Jusozczyk] came to me and said, ‘These people [at the Hi Rise] need that more than they do. This food won’t go far, but some of these people only got two, three hundred [dollars] to live on.”

This year’s haul included several cases of canned goods, pasta and other edibles, to include 400 pounds of potatoes donated by Firkus Farms in Plover.

“I thought last year would be our last year doing this,” Suchon said. “But then we thought about Sister Leone; she did so much for the community that people don’t realize. So this is in her memory.”