As Gloria Young’s car was being filled with gas Thursday morning – free of charge to her – at a Mobil gas station in Evanston, she said it felt like “Christmas in March.”
“It’s a blessing and I’m so thankful,” Young said. “I do have a job but at the same time who doesn’t need help? I need help and that’s one of the reasons I’m here today. Willie if I could meet you, I’d just like to say, ‘thank you very much!”‘
The “Willie” she is referring to is Chicago businessman and one-time mayoral, U.S. Senate and presidential candidate Willie Wilson, who paid for hundreds of motorists to get up to $50 each in gas – up to a total of $1 million. The fill-ups were pumped at dozens of participating gas stations in Chicago and the suburbs starting at 7 a.m. Thursday.
The Mobil station at 1950 Green Bay Road in Evanston was included.
For more than two hours vehicles lined up for free gas at the Evanston station. Many of the drivers, like Evanston resident Diana Boozer, said they were very delighted at Wilson’s largesse.
“It makes a lot of difference to help people out,” said Boozer. “Everything is overpriced. The price of gas is ridiculous. I’m glad somebody with money is nice to people.”
Shel Varosha works at the Evanston Mobil station and said motorists have been grumbling about the price of gas. He said drivers were all smiles Thursday as the free gas was flowing.
“I didn’t see a crazy day like this before,” said Varosha. “It’s huge money. People are really happy. It’s good for people. Gas prices are crazy.”
Varosa said he estimates that, as part of the giveaway Thursday morning, several thousand gallons of gas was pumped at the Evanston Mobil station over about three hours.
“Right now, these people don’t think about the price of gas,” he said. “They’re just happy. Without gas no one can run their life.”
Thursday marked the second time in a week that Wilson sponsored a gas giveaway event, saying he wants to help people who are not in the same income bracket as him. On March 17, he gave away $200,000 in gas at numerous stations located solely in Chicago. But he said that because that gas was given away so quickly, he decided to do an additional giveaway and to increase the total amount of money he would pay for the fuel, as well as add to the number of participating stations – with ones in the south, north and west suburbs included Thursday.
All eight of the pumps at the Mobil station in Evanston were in full use Thursday. Motorists didn’t seem to mind long waits before they navigated orange traffic cones and pulled up to the pumps where volunteers quickly put $50 in gas into their vehicle’s tank then sent them on their way.
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“Thanks to Mister Wilson for doing this for the people today,” said Simone Brooks, one of 11 volunteers at the Evanston Mobil station. “He’s always helping people out and they’re grateful.”
She said people expressed gratitude and even tried to give her a tip.
“I turned them down though. People are in a good mood this morning. There’s a pandemic going on and because of this (gas giveaway) people are happy,” she said.
The March 17 gas giveaway in Chicago caused traffic headaches, so Evanston officials issued an online alert Wednesday saying that the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications and police were coordinating with Wilson’s staff to avoid issues and that they were working to “mitigate traffic conditions and ensure public safety.”
“Drivers not in need of free gas are advised to avoid routes that’d put them near participating stations,” the alert stated.
Theresa Jackson lives in Skokie, but she said she stayed at her daughter’s house a few blocks from the Evanston Mobil station Wednesday night so she could be up early and be one of the first people to get free gas.
“With everything being expensive as it is and having a hard time, this is definitely a blessing to me,” said Jackson. “Things are hard now. Things are very high. Gas is ridiculous.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelancer.