Hard-Working College Student Rewarded with Car

By Sean Yoes, AFRO Baltimore Editor, [email protected]

The towering work ethic of a young man from Birmingham, Alabama was rewarded in a big way recently.

Walter Carr, a student at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, and a Marine hopeful, was so determined to make it to a new job, he didn’t let a busted automobile or a 20 mile walk deter him, according to AL.com.

Carr had to report to a job with the Bellhops moving company, which was about 20 miles from his home, and his car broke down the night before he had to go in for his first day. Instead of giving up and looking for another job, he decided to walk the 20 miles. Carr started from his home in Homewood, Alabama  and made it to Hoover by 2 a.m. and Pelham by 4 a.m.

When Carr reached Pelham, an encounter with law enforcement turned out to be a blessing for the young man. When officers asked Carr if he was in distress as he walked along a dark road in the early morning hours, he told them his story. After checking out his story, the four Pelham officers then took Carr to breakfast, brought him lunch to go and then drove him to a local church where he was allowed to rest before reporting to work.

Pelham police also gave Carr a ride to the site of the moving job, the home of Jenny Lamey. Carr insisted on beginning the move before his Bellhops co-workers arrived on the scene. When Lamey heard Carr’s full story she set up a GoFundMe page for the struggling student.

“We chatted while we were working together …He was from New Orleans. He and his mother lost their home in Hurricane Katrina and they came and made their home in Birmingham,” Lamey wrote in a Facebook post. As of July 19, the GoFundMe page set up by Lamey for Carr has raised almost $80,000.

This isn’t the only good fortune that has come Carr’s way since his story has been made public. When Luke Marklin, the CEO of Bellhops moving company got wind of Carr’s story, he made a trip from Tennessee to Alabama to meet with his young employee. Once the two met, Marklin presented Carr with the keys to his own car (an SUV in this case), a barely used 2014 Ford Escape.

“This was the first job in a long time to give me an opportunity to get hired. I wanted to show them I got the dedication. I said I’m going to get to this job one way or another,” Carr told AL.com.

“I want people to know this – no matter what the challenge is, you can break through the challenge. Nothing is impossible unless you make it impossible,” Carr said.

“You can do anything you set your mind to. I’ve got God by my side.”