On the outskirts of Tecate, Mexico, a small crew of volunteers is raising the frame of a one-room house. Morning sun glints off unfinished wood; the smell of cement hangs in the air. Among them is Lisa Frank, sleeves rolled up, her hands steady on a wooden beam as it’s set into place.
Frank, who runs a car-donation business in Southern California, doesn’t arrive as an executive or benefactor but as another pair of hands. “You lose track of time,” she says quietly. “You just keep building until it feels like the day is done.”
Roots of a Calling
Frank grew up in Northern California and took her first job at a vehicle-donation center while still in high school. She followed the company south for college, studying sociology with plans to teach. Academia didn’t hold her long. After earning her master’s degree, she realized that the intersection of logistics and compassion—the mechanics of turning an old car into tangible help—was where she belonged.
In 2009, she and a colleague started their own venture, now called Kars-R-Us. Over time, the company’s success gave her the freedom to pursue volunteer work more deeply. “The business side was always about creating access,” she says. “But volunteering showed me what that access actually does for people.”
Lessons from the Field
The first time Frank traveled to Guatemala for a medical mission, she expected to assist in a small way—handing out supplies, taking notes. What she found instead were lessons in endurance and grace. She watched local doctors improvise with limited equipment,…