Tears of joy! Needy Bay County high school student surprised with donated car
PANAMA CITY -- Alyssa Morris, junior at Deane Bozeman School, thought it was regular Friday, but after her student council meeting she was surprised with a new car.
The plan to give Morris a car developed while Bozeman administrators worked with her to help with some financial hardships, including paying for prom. They had worked to get her a dress, makeup and a gift basket. But then a friend of Deane Bozeman School Assistant Principal Christie West said they would donate a new Nissan for Morris.
The donor wanted to remain anonymous, but they said they knew somebody that takes cars, fixes them and then sells them. The donor said that seeing Morris' breakdown crying after the surprise made them feel happy and that they made the right decision.
The donor never met Morris or spoke to her, but they just wanted to be of help in the community.
Overwhelmed with emotion Friday, Morris said she thought she had fallen asleep during the student council meeting and that the surprise wasn't real. Morris has gone through her own trials and tribulations in life financially and she had been saving up for a car over the last year.
Morris worked at Sonic for about eight to nine months during the pandemic and then quit because her grades starting slipping. While a car was important, she didn't want to fall behind in school.
Morris said she didn't expect to walk outside to a new car and she's thankful for her family at Bozeman. She had other ideas for what was going on when she was called out to go to the front of the school.
"I just thought maybe they were congratulating me because I made a new idea for the dress code," Morris said. "It's going to help me a lot. I can actually get a job and save my money for other things and get my life ready for senior year."
West has worked with Morris for a while and they both have a relationship with one another. West said she fell in love with Morris from the first time they met and has worked on getting Morris access to different resources.
West was emotional thinking about the support from the community to help a young person who was in need.
"She (Morris) is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. She is always a friend to everybody," West said. "If she sees someone by themselves she will run to them and say 'Hey how is your day going,' she has had her own set of struggles she might have to overcome, but she works and I've never seen a harder worker."
Morris' high school sweetheart, Dylan Chason, has been dating Morris for three years and has had a front row seat to see what she's experienced. He said she was close to getting a car, but was excited to see that the community was able to help her out.
Chason won't have to let Morris drive his truck anymore, now that she has her own car.
"She's been through a lot and it's great that the community is looking out for her and trying to help her out," Chason said.
Besides the new car, Morris was given two free oil changes. She was also given a gas card to help her save some money.