HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Christmas arrived early for a Richmond-area mother of three.
Anshanae Richardson arrived at Certified Auto Repair in Henrico County on Friday and was surprised to learn she won a free car.
The car previously belonged to a father who lost his son.
He wanted to give the car away to someone who needed a vehicle.
"I started crying. I was just overwhelmed with joy," Richardson said when asked about the surprise gift. "I appreciate you guys, from the bottom of my heart."
The auto repair shop on Oakview Avenue fixed up the car and solicited nominations to find it a new home.
More than 35 people were nominated for the gift.
A panel read the nominations and chose Richardson.
"Being a son of a single mother, I remember the struggle of not having a vehicle. It's very hard. It's very daunting," Certified Auto Repair owner Stan Andrewski said. "I remember being in that situation. So for me, to be able to give somebody just a little bit of hope during this holiday time was very important for all of us."
Richardson said the kind gesture will make a big impact on her life.
"It will help me definitely keep a stable job. I'll be able to have reliable transportation and get back and forth to work. I'll be able to do the extra curriculums with my kids," she said.
Andrewski said his crew put about $1,000 worth of work into the 2007 Nissan Maxima to get it road ready. They also cleaned the inside and filled it up with gas.
He said he offered Richardson free oil changes for a year.
"When you help other people, a lot of your own problems start to go away. The problems you think you're going through, that you might need help with, when you help other people, you start curing some of your own problems," Andrewski said. "To see people that might have it a little worse than you, to see that you can help somebody really very easily in a lot of cases, just saying, 'Hey, how are you? How's your day going?' It just takes two seconds just to just be nice to somebody and to give a gift to them."
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