‘Christmas Karma Car’ for Single Mom in Boone is What Holiday Season is All About

By Jesse Wood

John M. Harris of Boone and his social media friends across several states made the holiday season a little brighter for a single mother who works tirelessly to support her three children and, without a car, walks several miles a day to and from the bus stop, work, day care and life’s other necessary errands.

In a tearjerker of a video posted on Wednesday evening, Harris distributed nearly several thousand dollars in the form of two months rent, an $800 gift card, toys for the woman’s children, and a dependable car, which included paid taxes, tags and insurance for six months and much more.

The setting of the video is off of U.S. 321 in Boone near Bojangles, where the young lady, who Harris called Boone Jane Doe, works. While her name isn’t being released, she didn’t mind being filmed.

Harris said he saw Boone Jane walking to the bus stop with her 2-year-old daughter a few times before deciding to give her a ride. Harris realized she was struggling to make ends meet. The last time he gave her a ride to the day care facility, the woman was crying. It was very cold outside and she was having trouble breathing because of her asthma.  

“She laughed when I asked her if she was going to be OK. She just laughed like ‘I am here. Rollin’ on.’ What else are you going to do? Have a pity party or laugh and move on. Nothing beats a heavy heart than a good laugh,” Harris said.

In getting to know Boone Jane Doe, Harris found her to be genuine, a “wonderful person,” one with such a great attitude. He also knew that she wasn’t going to ask for help.

“After talking with her several times, I knew she wasn’t going to ask for help but by God I was going to try to give her some help,” Harris said. 

Earlier this month, Harris decided to call on his 600 friends on Facebook to pitch in a few dollars. He figured that 200 people would give $10 or so, enough to buy a used car that could get her around town. Another friend created a YouCaring page for Boone Jane Doe, titled “Christmas Karma Car,” which is still online. 

The YouCaring crowdsourcing page raised $3,914, and Harris said that he’s also received some funds from friends offline that will be given to Boone Jane Doe in the form of maintenance for her car and other areas of need.

“I just thought,” Harris said, “everybody at one time in their life needs a little help.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.