Winning something special can be an amazing feeling. It shows us that there is still magic in the world. That there’s a chance that everything can turn around with just one stroke of good luck. What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever won? A couple bucks? A computer? A sports car?
The bigger the prize you win, the more unreal it seems, but as good as winning something is, don’t they say that giving feels even better? While most people do enjoy being charitable, would you give away your brand new car just to be kind to someone? Most people would not.
That’s what this story is about. It is about someone who finally won big with the chance of a lifetime, but then they gave it all away because it was the right thing to do. Read on to find out about this act of kindness that all started with an amazing friendship.
Think about your closest friendship with a coworker. Is that friendship so close that you would give them a car? That’s exactly what happened with these two Chick-fil-A employees. Haley Bridges is a 17 year old worker from Appleton Wisconsin. Her 19-year-old friend Hokule’a Tanigushi also works with her, however, at the time she was biking to work in the Wisconsin Winter. Haley ended up winning a car at a raffle during a Christmas party. She could have easily kept the car, but she had a better idea.
Haley Bridges told TODAY, "I started working at Chick-fil-A in late August. I love working here. Not only are the people that work here amazing, but it has taught me so many new things. I always look forward to going to work, I get to see my second family."
The workers at that Chick-Fil-A location are very close. They even help each other with issues outside of work, and spend their time having fun together when they aren’t working. That’s how Taniguchi and Bridges became such good friends since working there. That friendship truly worked out well for Taniguchi. All of the coworkers had heard that there would be a car raffle for their Christmas party. Once they confirmed this was true, Bridges’ friend group at work agreed that if any of them one, they would give the car to Taniguchi.
"The car was the only raffle where we couldn’t pool our tickets, one ticket per person. Our friend group and some other friends decided to all put one in for her. We were all very nervous that someone else would get chosen, but we kept our hopes up."
Sure enough, Bridges was the one who won the raffle. She recounts the amazing moment when she won. "Once my name was called by one of the bosses, Hoku and I looked at each other, this is when she started to cry. I’ve never seen her emotional side much. She is a very happy person and very funny and goofy as well. We looked at each other and I started to cry as well.”
She continued, "My heart felt as if it was racing and we both stood up and ran to each other. Everyone in the room felt like they were gone, it felt as if it was just us two in the moment. We hugged each other hard and cried so much. Everyone else was either crying or clapping. We all had a big group hug with everyone near us and it felt so unreal experiencing this." Now Taniguchi has a car, all thanks to a powerful friendship.
