Last week, Sionna Brenn was working a normal shift at Starbucks, and everything was going as per usual – that is, until a stranger jumped out of a dumpster and surprised her with a new car.
The gift was courtesy of Charlie Jabaley, a former music executive who quit the industry after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Now, he wants to use his time helping other people; so last week, he helped Brenn.
It has been a decade since Brenn first came to the US from Ethiopia, but the years have not been easy. The 19-year-old spent years in an abusive foster home before she was finally removed. She was eventually able to move in with a distant cousin who was living in Houston, Texas – but since the relative was not a legal guardian, Brenn was declared homeless by the state.
Despite these struggles, she graduated from high school with honors and earned a scholarship to the University of Texas in San Antonio. Currently, she is working 35 hours per week at Starbucks so she can support herself, but she doesn’t have any transportation.
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Jabaley, on the other hand, was a Grammy award winner and manager to the rap artist 2 Chainz. Once he was diagnosed with cancer last year, however, he resolved to change.
The prognosis spurred Jabaley to lose 120 pounds and launch his Dream Machine Tour of America. During the tour, Jabaley and his friend will be biking from Los Angeles to New York City so they can perform good deeds for people along the way.
Since they left in April, they have helped cancer patients and disadvantaged families – and last week, they helped Brenn in Houston.
The teen was taking out the trash at Starbucks, unaware that Jabaley was waiting in the dumpster to surprise her. When he knew she was close by, he jumped out of the bin with a handful of balloons and told her that he was giving her a new Toyota Corolla.
Suffice it to say that she could barely contain her emotions.
“I think I’m in a dream right now,” Brenn told Fox 26. “It’s more than a dream, it’s crazy.”
(WATCH the video below – OR our international viewers can watch the clip on the CBS News website)
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