Chicago businessman Willie Wilson gridlocked the streets of Chicago with a kind gesture: giving away gas.
On Thursday, Wilson gave drivers another chance to fill their tanks at no cost to them for the second time this month, ABC 7 reported.
“I had no idea that it was going to be this big,” Wilson told the outlet. “But when it happened, it just exploded. And I was surprised like everybody else.”
Cars were able to receive up to $50 in gas at 21 locations, and each station took up to 400 cars. Some drivers were lined up at 4:30 a.m. before volunteers gave out stickers.
A lot of people didn’t get a chance to get the free gas in the last giveaway, Wilson said. “They stood in line. I saw people in tears.”
Wilson, who ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2020, decided after a trip to the gas station this month that he had to do something to help people who aren’t in his same income bracket.
He dedicated $200,000 on March 17 to Chicagoans who are facing skyrocketing gas prices and plans to donate $1 million, according to ABC 7.
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But the giveaway didn’t come without some headaches.
Traffic jams and gridlocked streets led some in need of gas to be turned away, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“It really upset me. … I was already on an empty tank of gas,” Chantine Adams told the outlet after last week’s giveaway. “I was literally driving the last of my gas to get there. It’s already hard with everything going on here in Chicago, the economy, the gas prices, rent.”
Thursday’s giveaway was more organized, with Chicago police officers stationed around the city for traffic control, ABC 7 reported.
It started at 7 a.m. and was expected to last four to five hours.
“We think that it’s going to go well, and let’s hope that as many people can get gasoline tomorrow as possible,” Wilson told ABC 7 on Tuesday.
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.
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