On June 21, Andy Mitchell picked up a young man walking in the 90-degree swelter in Rockwall, Texas. He pulled over and offered him a ride. The 20-year-old, Justin Korva, told him he walks three miles every day to work at Taco Casa.
That impressed Mitchell.
“To all the people that say they want to work but can’t find a job or don’t have a vehicle all I can say is you don’t want it bad enough!” he wrote on Facebook, posting a picture of him and Korva.
Just 48 hours later Korva would have a car. How?
Samee Dowlatshahi, owner of a local restaurant, noticed Mitchell’s post.
“I am thinking wow walks 6 miles to get to work and back what a great kid but then I get this feeling in my gut ‘don’t scroll anymore this is it’,” he wrote on Facebook.
He messaged Mitchell and got a call back around 4 p.m.
He told Mitchell, “let’s get this kid a car.”
Mitchell was in.
The both started to spread the word that they’re raising money to buy Korva a car.
At about 5 p.m., Danny Rawls from Toyota Rockwall called Dowlatshahi and offered him an “awesome deal” on a 2004 Toyota Camry.
Meanwhile, people started to walk into Dowlatshahi’s restaurant offering donations.
At 2 a.m. Dowlatshahi counted the donations. It was a lot he said, but still not nearly enough for the car (he didn’t specify how much the car cost).
At 3 a.m. he was praying everything would work out “and once again I get that feeling I just can’t describe that everything is going to be ok,” he said.
At 8:30 a.m. Mitchell called him. “Hey let’s go get this kid a car,” Mitchell said. “I got some money out, let’s worry about donations later.”
At 11 a.m. they went to check out the car. It looked good, and by 12:30 p.m. they'd bought it.
Throughout the day more donations came in.
“[A]s much and as I really appreciate the big ones, the one’s that really touched me was the $30, $20, $50 because some of these people, I know them and I know they can use this money in more than one areas in their lives,” Dowlatshahi said.
At 3 a.m. on June 23, he counted the donations: “WE MADE IT :):) we have enough to get the car, one year insurance, $500 gas card and some more that I can not reveal now.” (They also got 2 years worth of oil changes.)
At 4:30 p.m. they parked the car in front of Taco Casa in Rockwell and invited Korva out to check it out.
At least two people broadcasted the moment live on Facebook as Mitchell explained to the young man what had happened over the previous 48 hours.
“Justin, you can’t imagine all the people who wanted to help you,” Mitchell said. “So, instead of walking to work, buddy, you’re driving this car from now on.”
Korva couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious?”
“It’s your car! This is your car,” Mitchell said.
Korva gave each man a hug, clearly moved.
“We just wanted you to know, seriously, this community, nothing we love better than [to have] someone that works hard,” Dowlatshahi said. “[We] take a lot of pride in that. It’s so hot out here, I can’t believe you even walk one mile in this heat.”
Both Dowlatshahi and Mitchell said they acted out of their faith and also to inspire others.
“I just want to share with you so next time you pass by a post or see someone and you get that feeling as you should do more, DO IT :) don’t worry about the detail, don’t worry about if the person is really deserving that is not for you to judge, just act on it I promise you God will make it happen and you [will] be amazed of what’s possible,” Dowlatshahi said.
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