Hundreds offer to donate cars to South Carolina mechanic who fixes them for those in need
A few weeks ago, CBS News profiled a South Carolina mechanic who fixes old cars and donates them to rural families without a ride. The response to the story was astounding: People have offered to donate nearly 800 cars to the cause.
"My phone started exploding from all over the place," mechanic Eliot Middleton told CBS News.
"Whatever glowing feeling is inside me, it just transferred from that TV screen and went inside them," he said, describing the response as "soul-soothing."
As CBS News previously reported, Middleton's yard is a cemetery of used cars. He gives the clunkers new life, to help those in South Carolina's low country.
"There's no public transportation," Middleton told CBS News in June. "There's no Ubers, there's no taxis or nothing like that."
Some of the recipients of the fixed cars are single moms, jobs seekers and older folks with doctor's appointments. Last Christmas, he gave a 2004 Suzuki to single mom Jessica Litchfield — who described his work as "a lifesaver."
"Some folks don't believe it," Middleton said. "It's like, 'No, that's not my car.'"
When asked if it gives him a buzz to help those in need, Middleton said, "It's beyond anything in this world."
Middleton's sister is helping organize the overwhelming response to his good deeds — which also includes more than $100,000 in cash donations.
When asked if he ever could have imagined such a response, Middleton said "never in this lifetime."
To donate a vehicle or money, send an email to donations@village2villagefoundation.org. To submit the story of someone who deserves a vehicle, email submissions@village2villagefoundation.org.