Social Media Helps Mom Surprise Son With Car For 16th Birthday

A teen cried tears of happiness when his family who were struggling financially surprised him with his first-ever car thanks to the help of kindhearted social media users. Aiden Channell, 16, is the oldest of six kids, and with a passion for skateboarding, he often travels 40 minutes from this home to DeKalb, Illinois, to skate. With a large family, Aiden's mom, Sara, 35, said she could see the benefit to everyone if Aiden had his own car – but she was also understanding of the financial realities. Having had a "tough year," Sara admitted she wasn't expecting to be able to buy Aiden his first car for his 16th birthday, which the teenager had come to terms with, too. But on January 1, to start the new year, Sara posted on social media, about how she was amazed by a story of 70,000 social media users each giving someone $6 to buy a house. To Sara's surprise, her post took off and soon received more than half a million views - and donations shortly followed. Within 24 hours Sara had received $1600 from social media users sympathetic to their journey as a family, which was enough to help cover the down payment on a used vehicle. While Aiden was visiting his dad, Sara and Aiden's stepdad, Shannon, spent the day looking for a used vehicle, settling on a 2009 Subaru Forester. When Sara then picked Aiden up in the evening, on January 4, she said they needed to swing by a local dealership in Newark, Illinois, so they could check out a side job Shannon had been considering. As Aiden walked around the forecourt, though, Sara instead handed her son the keys to his first car, which caused the teenager to freeze in shock before fighting back tears of happiness.

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