One of my kid's friends needs a car — and more than that, he needs a break.

He’s 18 and graduated this past May with a 3.9 GPA. He loved all things music in high school and even composed a choral piece in German that his classmates performed at their spring concert — a beautiful, haunting piece that showed just how much talent and heart he has.

What most people didn’t see at that concert was what he was enduring behind the scenes. He’s grown up in a home marked by physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, and he’s had to fight for every bit of light in his life. Yet despite all that, he’s refused to let his circumstances define him.

Now, he’s working hard at a minimum wage job to pay his own way through HVAC trade school, determined to build a stable future. His dream is to finish his certification, find a good job, and then attend college at night to study music composition — his true passion.

Right now, though, he’s struggling to get to school and work. He needs a reliable car — something simple, safe, and free, if possible — to help him keep chasing that better future he’s working so hard to build.

He studied driver's ed over the summer with my daughter and they took their permit tests the same day. I have been taking him on weekly driving lessons because no one in his family is willing to help him get his license. He is smart, learns quickly, and is ready for his driver's test later this month.

If anyone out there has an old vehicle they’re no longer using — something that could safely get this young man to class and work — it would quite literally change his life.

Against all odds, this boy is pulling himself up and laying the groundwork for a better future. He just needs a little help to keep going.

If you can help, or know someone who can, please reach out. Let’s show him that good people do exist — and that kindness can be the bridge between surviving and thriving.