Aiden Channell is 16 years old and the oldest of six kids. He loves skateboarding and often travels 40 minutes from his home near DeKalb, Illinois, to skate. His mom, Sara, who is 35, knew a car would help Aiden and the whole family since there are so many kids to take care of. But after a hard year with money, Sara didn’t think she could buy Aiden a car for his 16th birthday. Aiden was okay with that because he understood.
To start the new year, Sara wrote a post on social media. She talked about a cool story she saw where 70,000 people online each gave $6 to help someone buy a house. She didn’t expect much, but her post got super popular—over half a million people saw it! Soon, kind strangers started sending her money because they liked her family’s story.
In just one day, Sara got $1,600 from people online. That was enough to help pay for a used car. While Aiden was at his dad’s house, Sara and her husband, Shannon, went car shopping. They picked out a 2009 Subaru Forester.
On January 4, Sara went to pick Aiden up in the evening. She told him they had to stop by a car dealership in Newark, Illinois, because Shannon might get a side job there. When they arrived, Aiden got out and started looking around. Then, Sara surprised him by handing him the keys to his very own car! Aiden was so shocked he froze, and then he started crying happy tears.
Sara said, “We drove to the dealership and pretended Shannon needed Aiden’s help with a job. When Aiden got out, we gave him the keys and asked if he wanted to see his new car. Seeing him realize his dream came true was the best feeling ever. My husband was so happy too. In the video, Aiden hugged us before even looking at the car.”
People online loved the story. Tons of comments said the video made them feel good inside. They called Aiden a great kid who was really thankful. Sara said, “So many people love the video because it shows a happy moment with a wonderful kid.”
