Why an Ordinary Guy in Tennessee Has Given Away Every Car He Bought Since 2003 to Total Strangers
You might think this is a scam, but it isn’t.
You might think I’m wildly wealthy like Elon Musk, but I’m not.
You might think I have ulterior motives, but I don’t.
It’s actually a pain to do this because it takes waaaaaaaaaaaaay more time and work to give away cars than you’d think.
This project was inspired by the most unlikely convergence of two seemingly unrelated events that happened to me in 2003.
Event #1: An Unusual Gift from an Ex-Con
A former college classmate of mine was sent to prison for a year because of a bad decision he made.
I’d never known anyone who’d been incarcerated. His wife told me he was getting the help he needed to turn his life around, so I wrote him a letter of encouragement.
When he got out, he gave me a book titled The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.
I didn’t think much about it at first because it didn’t seem that different from other books, but I was wrong.
It became the bestselling book in history other than the Bible.
When I finally read it, I became obsessed with the subtitle:
“What on Earth Am I Here For?”
The first sentence read “It’s not about you”.
Author Rick Warren explained that the purpose of our lives should be to serve God, and the way God wants us to do that is by serving others.
I was sold but wondered exactly how I could do that.
And that’s when things got kind of weird.
Event #2: A Life Changing Trip to Blockbuster Video
It’s said that God moves in mysterious ways, but I never imagined He’d use Blockbuster Video to speak to me.
I stopped at Blockbuster to pick up a copy of the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, but it was out of stock so I grabbed a movie named Pay It Forward.
In the opening scene, a reporter was panicking after losing his car in an accident when a mysterious stranger appeared and gave him his Jaguar.
When asked why he’d do that, he replied “Call it generosity between strangers”.
(Click to play button to see video.)
That captivated me so much that I wanted to be that mysterious stranger.
So when I replaced my minivan that same year, I gave my old one to a single mom I found through Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville.
(My father and grandfather were both mechanics, so my cars are extremely well maintained).
The feeling was so exhilarating that I swore I’d do this every time I buy a newer car for the rest of my life.
I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years now, hoping to inspire others to do the same.
As far as I know, I haven’t inspired a single person to give away a car. But I’ve come to realize something.
You don’t have to change the entire world to change one person’s world.
For a single mom struggling to get her kids to school, a car can be life-changing. For someone trying to hold down a job without reliable transportation, it can mean the difference between getting ahead and falling behind.
And here’s the beautiful thing about kindness.
You never know how far it will travel.
Maybe someone I’ve helped will someday help someone else. Maybe someone reading this will decide to give away a car, or do something entirely different to make another person’s life a little better.
I may never know, but that’s okay.
Because I didn’t start doing this to get recognition, change the world, or even start a movement.
I started doing it because I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life.
And every time I hand over another set of car keys, I’m reminded of something I learned back in 2003.
The real joy in getting a newer car isn’t always in the one you drive home. Sometimes it’s in the one you leave behind.
And that, my friends, is why I plan to keep doing this for the rest of my life.
Glenn in Nashville
The Hidden Service of Military Families
I gave my Jaguar XJ8 to a military family stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. This young soldier and his wife have a special needs daughter who didn’t have access to the specialized medical care she needed when he was stationed in Alaska.
The Army granted him reassignment to Ft. Campbell so that they could drive her to Vanderbilt University Medical Center about an hour away.
The problem was that they only had one vehicle, and his wife was getting laid off from her civilian job. Now they have two.
When we first met, the soldier said “Thank you for what you’re doing for my family”. I responded “Thank You for what you’re doing for our country”.
And that’s when it hit me.
I began doing this in 2003 and had used that term “Pay It Forward” ever since. But this time I wasn’t paying it forward — I was paying it back.
After working with the Ft. Campbell Military Spouses Club to coordinate the giveaway, I learned how many extra responsibilities military spouses take on while their partners are deployed. And how they have to navigate frequent relocations, disrupting the kids’ schooling and friendships.
So for any military families who might read this, thank you for your service in supporting your military parent or spouse.
Pictured Above: Vicki Keibler of the North Myrtle Beach, SC Chamber of Commerce, with her husband Rex, son Cory, and daughter-in-law Shaina.
This Newlywed Who Walked His Wife to Walmart at 5:00 AM Every Morning
We gave my beautiuful bride’s Land Rover to newlyweds Cory and Shaina Keibler in North Myrtle Beach, SC.
Cory’s mom Vicki worked for the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and submitted his name. He’s unable to drive because of health problems resulting from oxygen deprivation at birth, but Shaina is. He works at Goodwill and she works at Walmart.
Because they had no vehicle, Cory would get up at 5:00 am every morning to walk Shaina to work. Vicki set up the reveal like on the TV show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition”, and had it covered live by the local ABC television affiliate. The CEO of Goodwill and Cory’s supervisor were also there for the presentation.
The School Crossing Guard Who Had to Uber to Work
When my beautiful bride was ready for a larger SUV, we gave her smaller BMW X5 to a school crossing guard from Chattanooga. Here’s the submission from Cheryl Millsaps at the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce which won me over instantly:
“Mrs. Mel is the school crossing guard for Battle Elementary, an inner-city zoned magnet school that draws children from the surrounding inner-city neighborhoods and the children of suburban parents who work in downtown Chattanooga. The school sits at one of the busiest intersections on the Southside. Since many of the children live outside the school zone, parents have to provide their own transportation, adding to the traffic congestion at this intersection with four lanes of traffic on both streets. Mrs. Mel cheerfully wades into zipping rush hour traffic to assist parents and grandparents walking kindergartners to 5th graders across this dangerous intersection. I’m horrified to say that she has had canned drinks and hot coffee thrown at her and has even been clipped by cars deliberately harassing her. Yet she’s there every morning and afternoon, merrily calling out good morning to everyone, recognizing both children and parents by name, giving hugs of encouragement, and sometimes even belting out hymns of gratefulness in a stage-worthy voice. I recently learned that her only vehicle has broken down and she is having to ride the bus or Uber from home, adding at least an hour each way to her commute. Yet she’s there every day, spreading her particular brand of sunshine to these kids, modeling joy, hard work, and gratefulness for every day. She is such a wonderful example to the parents and children of Battle Elementary.”
(Click to play button to see video.)
A Single Mom Trying to Serve Others
Consuela Baker was a single mom raising a six-year old son by herself. While delivering food to people in her care group at Cornerstone Church in Madison, TN, her car became so unreliable that she had to ask someone to meet her halfway to get the meals delivered.
When Glenn donated his Jaguar XJ-6 to Cornerstone’s Pastor Maury Davis and asked him to find someone deserving, he knew Consuela was the one. In this video, you’ll see the assistant pastor actually driving the car into church during services.
Getting Fur Babies to Their Furever Homes
I drove this Chevrolet G1500 van to seminar for years. When I replaced it with a Honda Odyssey, we gave it to the Corinth-Alcorn Animal Shelter in Corinth, MS.
In an odd twist of fate, I saw the story of a nonprofit in Kentucky that lost an identical vehicle and was desperately trying to raise funds for a replacement. I called and left a message that I’d like to replace the vehicle, but no one returned my call.
I next called a chamber of commerce in Northeast Texas to inform them one of their members had won and to coordinate the giveaway. Again, no one returned my call.
Finally, we chose the Corinth-Alcorn Animal Shelter which promptly returned the call and was very excited to receive a free vehicle.
In the left photo, I’m presenting the keys to board member Rebecca Burcham who picked it up in Nashville and delivered it to them in Mississippi.
In the right photo, the first group of fur babies have just been loaded in Mississippi and are about to be transported to a sister shelter in Pennsylvania, where they had their furever homes waiting for them. I’m a super-hardcore dog lover and like dogs better than people, so this was my favorite.
A Single Mom Taking Care of Three Generations of her Family Alone
This is the one that started it all in 2003. I gave this GMC minivan to Nancy Westbury, who I found through the staff of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. She had recently moved to Nashville from Florida to take care of her aging parents. Because her father was wheelchair bound due to amputations from diabetes, she was in need of a larger vehicle.
She was a single mom who already had a daughter to take care of. To the fray, her daughter was pregnant, putting her in a position of taking care of three different generations of her family all by herself. She was a perfect recipient of this van.
Giving Away Tony Soprano’s Escalade
I bought this replica of Tony Soprano’s Escalade from The Sopranos, intending only to use it to haul golf clubs and shotguns on the weekend. But fell in love with it because it was the smoothest riding vehicle I’ve ever owned. When it was time to buy a newer one, the garage owner who took care of my cars for years wanted to buy it. But I then learned that one of his employees didn’t have a car and had been walking to work (ironically to fix other people’s cars) because he didn’t have a car of his own, so I gave it to him. I replaced it with a newer black Chevy Tahoe that has a lot more modern features and also bought my beautiful bride a newer generation Escalade. Both are nice, but neither can hold a candle to how smoothly that old Escalade rode. This is one I still miss.
The Chevrolet That Floated Away
We tried to give this Chevy Express van to a woman in Oklahoma. She was informed of her good fortune in April 2010 but didn’t get the vehicle added to her insurance policy until May 5th. Unfortunately, on May 1st a 500-year flood devastated Nashville and completely destroyed my company. I lost everything, and the van literally floated away.
The Corvette My Lawyer “Stole”
This one created what Dr. Laura calls a moral dilemma. When I tried to give away this Corvette, my attorney was concerned about liability because the car was so powerful. And to be fair, no one really “needs” a Corvette.
So to keep my promise to pay it forward each time I buy another car, I sold it and donated 100% of the proceeds directly to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
