海角大神

You may have seen Eliot Middleton鈥檚 story on a network talk show, delivered as an upbeat little yarn. It鈥檚 actually more. Not quite a year ago, this barbecue restaurant owner in South Carolina鈥檚 Lowcountry started fixing up vehicles for strangers in need, for free.

His dad taught him how to wield a wrench, and to be kind. Mr. Middleton works back-country style: cars in the open, no fancy shop. The cars aren鈥檛 fancy, either. Plenty have what car people call 鈥渕oon mileage.鈥� Many have surely tallied what would be round trips there from Earth.

Mr. Middleton had given away more than 30 cars before national media found him this month. As his story spread, so did offers of car donations 鈥� some 800 from around the country, , plus more than $100,000 in cash. 鈥淪oul-soothing,鈥� he says.聽

His work fills gaps. Automobile as the supply chain for high-tech components has faltered, dropping new-car inventory and pushing up prices on new and used cars. In Mr. Middleton鈥檚 region, transit and ride services are not an option.

So at a time when the 鈥渞ight to repair鈥� is being fought for, affecting vehicles from to , a spotlight-averse man in Awandaw, South Carolina, is carefully matching generosity to need.聽

鈥淭he young man is very overwhelmed,鈥� says his sister in a video on their . He鈥檚 also still in drive. He aims to expand his car-collection range outward from the Carolinas and Georgia to broaden his giving.聽

鈥淭here are so many of us who will do the right thing if someone like Mr. Middleton sets [an] example and walks the walk,鈥� one site visitor posted. 鈥淩ipples are turning into waves, and society is showing its Humanity!鈥�