Annette Morales received a life-changing surprise when a Georgia auto repair shop raised more than $160,000 for her after she took her car in for maintenance and the shop owner discovered she was struggling financially.
Morales, who is raising her two girls alone, revealed that she started experiencing issues with the car a week after purchasing it in October of last year. She took the car to a few other shops, but until she visited Royalty Auto Service, she was unable to get clear responses about the problems. She added that she didn’t have enough money to pay for the repairs.
“I was scared to know what was wrong with the vehicle because we don’t have the funds to fix stuff,” Morales told News4Jax.
According to Sherwood Cooke, owner of Royalty Auto Service, the single mother approached the shop to get a second opinion on her 2010 GMC Terrain after learning that the engine needed to be replaced from another shop.
Cooke stated that once she brought the car in, they examined it and drove it. They found serious problems, including bad front wheel bearings (the worst the shop has seen in 44 years), as well as other engine issues.
“This vehicle is falling apart,” Cooke said.
He explained that the car was dangerous to drive because of the terrible wheel bearings. The shop restored the bearings and installed fresh tires to ensure safety. When Cooke and his crew learned more about Morales’ predicament, they decided to assist Morales further.
“We see a lot of people in need, but something about Annette just struck me,” Cooke said. “I told my son, ‘We’re going to do something for her.’”
So they created a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Morales’ car and other expenses.
On the fundraiser page, Royalty Auto Service wrote, “We are trying to help a single mom, Annette, who needs a break. She came into our shop wanting a second opinion on if her 2010 GMC Terrain actually needed an engine as she was told by another shop. We got it in and took a look, and were pleasantly surprised that the vehicle was still running. Unfortunately, the check engine light is on with misfire and catalyst efficiency codes and there is blowby in the engine. The timing chain is also rattling. When we drove it we heard the loudest wheel bearing that may have ever been in the shop. This vehicle is falling apart.”
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They added, “She has 2 daughters, one that was going to college, but is now staying to work and help her mom pay the bills, and the other (10) that is going to elementary school. She can barely make her rent every month. She put $300 on this vehicle and after all of the interest would pay $21000 for it. Ridiculous! She needs a buffer. She needs to be able to pay her bills and get caught up where she isn’t living paycheck to paycheck completely stressed out that she won’t be able to have a place to stay.
“This woman hasn’t asked for ANYTHING! She is extremely humble, and we want to help her out.”
Since then, they have raised an incredible $168,000, surpassing the fundraiser’s original $150,000 target.
In a now-viral video of the moment Morales found out about the fundraiser, Cooke could be heard telling Morales that he and his shop had a “big social media” following.
When he told her that they had “put out her story” and gave her a piece of paper that showed how much had been raised, she started crying and embraced him.
“Thank you so much,” Morales said in the video. “You have been like a blessing.”
“It was meant to be,” a visibly emotional Cooke said in the video.
