Darlene Quinn works the 4 a.m. shift as a package handler at FedEx in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her only car broke down three months ago, and she has been walking twelve miles to work and twelve miles back home since.
Her friend and coworker Josh Lewis said he and his boss noticed her walking to work, so they helped by giving her rides to ease the commute. But Lewis wanted to do more.
A couple of weeks ago he talked to his boss about it, and they decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to get Quinn a new car. The campaign officially started on Oct. 22. Within a week, about 100 people had already raised enough money for it. They bought it from a local dealer, and two locally-owned business also offered to help: one of them is offering free oil changes, the other one is helping with tire services.
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However, last Tuesday they captured the moment in which they surprised Quinn with a new silver car in an emotional video. Lewis told her:
“There’s a lot of people in this community that love you and care about you… You have inspired so many of us to do great things about going to work, supporting ourselves and doing what we have to do. Me and about 100 other people got together and we raised enough money to buy that car [with] cash for you today. We’re going to give you the car.”
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Quinn immediately broke down, crying with joy. Lewis told her:
“I had to get it on video because so many people love you. They want to see you get this car today.”
Quinn says little in the video other than warning Lewis that she is going to cry. But she reacted to the gift later, posting a card on Facebook, saying that the donors kindness “will always be remembered with more gratitude than you could ever know.”
