Owner of Fyshwick thrift shop The Shed, Adam Charif, said he knew he had made the right decision in his car giveaway as soon as he gave Karen a hug. Photo: The Shed.
Fyshwick thrift shop The Shed has gifted one lucky Canberran a car as part of a special giveaway to a person in need.
The Shed’s owner Adam Charif originally owned the Toyota Camry but, after upgrading to a newer vehicle and rarely using it, he decided to find a local who needed the car more than him.
Mr Charif put out a call online for people to nominate who they believed most needed the car.
He was inundated with more than 100 nominations and he and other staff spent days deciding who was the best fit.
Mr Charif said it was important to find a person he knew would benefit from the car but also someone who would truly value it as well.
“At The Shed, we always like to give back to the community,” he said.
“Every Christmas we do the vouchers … this time, we wanted to do something for our birthday and I thought, what better way to give away a good quality car.
“We had so many applicants and so many people that needed a car. I wish I had more cars to give because it just showed me how much it’s needed in the Canberra community.
“Growing up, my mum didn’t have a car and I learnt how difficult it is to go without. So it was important to me to find someone who needed it, could use it and look after it.”
After the vetting process was done, he and the team at The Shed settled on who they believed most needed a car.
“We gave it to a lovely lady named Karen. When we told her she was the one who was getting the car, her reaction was amazing,” Mr Charif said.
“It was clear to us, as soon as she turned the key in the car, that we had made the right decision. Karen stood out amongst everyone else.
“Her sister was the one to nominate her. She wrote to us about the difficult time that she had gone through and we thought that this was our little way of helping her out.”
Karen was in the store when she got the news. However, she was unaware she had even been nominated.
“I was in the shop, Adam was following me around from the moment I walked in and then he threw me the keys and told me to catch,” she said.
“I knew about the giveaway, but I had no clue I was in the running. I was completely overwhelmed and so extremely grateful that another human being could be so giving.”
YOUR ALL NEW ‘EVERYTHING’ FITNESS OASIS
Train. Recover. Reform. Rest.
Karen said that prior to receiving the car, she had been borrowing one from a friend while trying to save up money for her own.
“It makes such a difference for me. I’ve got two kids. I’m recently a single parent, so for me to actually own a car without having to a save up …” she said.
“I can give my loan car back to my friend and I now have something I can actually own. I can put the insurance on it properly and I can feel a lot more comfortable knowing that it’s mine now.”
Karen said Mr Charif’s generosity has inspired her to give forward whenever she can.
“I honestly don’t know how I can thank someone as generous as Adam,” she said.
“I just know that when he pays it forward, he feels good and now that’s what I’m going to do because I just want everyone to feel the way I did receiving that level of generosity.”
