MEMPHIS, Tenn — One viral social media post led to a Memphis family getting a new car, job opportunities, and newfound faith in the 901. The Green family’s new beginning started with the small car dealership, Auto Haven Of Memphis LLC, making a giveaway post for the holidays.
“We were already going to do a giveaway – a van giveaway to a family in need,” Susie Webber of Auto Haven said. “The day that we posted about it was the actual day that this family went viral.”
Then the Webber’s came across a viral Facebook post showing a family experiencing homelessness. The comments filled with Memphians offering food, money, and toys for the kids.
“I showed my husband the post,” Susie Webber said. “A lot of people were sending it to me, you know, telling me that these people really, really need it. We were going to do it on Christmas day, but being that they were in need, he wanted to go ahead and give it to that guy.”
As chance would have it, the two families have more in common than they thought.
“I looked at the guy," Bazelle Webber recalled. "I said he looks familiar, but he came up here, and I was like, 'he went to school with me.' I remember his name, and I was like, 'I wanna do this.'”
“Just so happened – schoolmates,” Marcus Green said. “We went to Central High School together.”
This brought the search for this grand caravan’s new owners to an end.
“I mean I’m just glad my babies straight,” Green said. “It’s all about my kids. It’s not about me. It’s about my babies.”
A new ride and a new chapter. The Webbers are hoping their good deed rubs off on other major companies.
“We just small," Bazelle Webber said. "We do what we can do but if major corporations step in, I think that it can solve a lot of problems around here.”
The happy ending gets even better. In the days after the family went viral on Facebook, dozens of community members have reached out to the family, offering help with housing and paying for gas. Some people are even securing Green job interviews as the family gets back on their feet.
Marcus told ABC24 his family is feeling very blessed and looking forward to the future.