When one stranger overheard a teen struggling to pay for repairs on his car, he did not hesitate to step in with a kind gesture.

Zach Bowen, 19, needed his car for the weekend, but, as anyone who owns a car knows, vehicles don’t care about your plans. His 2006 Ford Taurus needed repairs, so he brought it in to get fixed at a family-run shop, West Omaha Auto Service.

When Bowen and his mom went to pick up the car ahead of the weekend, they tried to pay but the card they were using wouldn’t go through. Bowen didn’t know what to do.

But Anthony Oxtal did. The service manager decided to let Bowen take the car and pay the bill on Monday. “I let him just take the car for the weekend,” Oxtal said, according to KMTV.

“I love my customers. They’re awesome,” he added.

How One Anonymous Stranger Saved a Struggling Teen’s Day

Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

When Bowen went back on Monday to pay for the car, something incredible happened. It turned out an anonymous stranger had overheard about Bowen’s credit card troubles and left a note in the shop’s key dropbox.

My husband was here Friday afternoon to pick up car and a young man and possibly his mother were here to pick up the young man’s car. He was having trouble getting financing to pay for repairs. You let him take the car and told him to come back Monday to figure it out. I would like to donate to the bill, here’s $200 for the repairs.

The note

Oxtal was floored. “I saw the note and I was like wow that was nice,” he told KMTV.

How a Stranger Highlighted the Importance of Giving

But Bowen’s mom Sherry was even more surprised. “It was a big shock. I was definitely in tears,” she said. “I’m definitely wanting to pay it forward to someone else just so it keeps going on for someone else.”

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Thankful, Bowen said the anonymous strangers “are a prime example that there’s still kindness in this world.”

“It really touched me and I’m eternally grateful,” he added.

We live in a society that demands us to work, work, work, and make money all the time. But we can’t forget the importance of generosity. This story was a prime example of why.

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Have a generous heart
“The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward.”
– Carol Ryrie Brink.