LOCAL HERO: Eliot Middleton Gifts over 60 Repaired Cars to People in Rural South Carolina Without Wheels

This past summer, CBS News ran a story on Eliot Middleton, a barbecue restaurant owner and a trained mechanic in rural South Carolina who was fixing older cars and donating them to people in need.

“There’s no public transportation,” Middleton told CBS News in June. “There’s no Ubers, there’s no taxis or nothing like that.”

To quote from cbsnews.com:

Some of the recipients of the fixed cars are single moms, jobs seekers and older folks with doctors’ appointments. Last Christmas, he gave a 2004 Suzuki to single mom Jessica Litchfield — who described his work as “a lifesaver.”

“Some folks don’t believe it,” Middleton said. “It’s like, ‘No, that’s not my car.'”

After the story ran, by July he’d received offers of over 800 donations of cars in addition to more than $100,000 in cash donations to support Middleton’s charitable efforts.

According to a recent report from wltx.com, Middleton has given away over 60 cars since he started helping others in this fashion, giving away 12 of them during the 12 days of Christmas.

Middleton and his non-profit Middleton’s Village to Village Foundation can be followed or contacted here.

[Photo: Eliot Middleton, Savonnie Eadie, Doretha Simmons (l to r) via Facebook]