One for you, one for me
When Amir Izadkhah purchased a Toyota last month he thought his brother-in-law Ali Abbasnejad could use one too.
So Amir nominated Ali in the Ontario Toyota Dealers’ Wish Giver contest.
Tuesday afternoon at the Guelph Line dealership Amir’s wish came true, and then some.
He was given a $20,000 cheque that will help him pay off his newly purchased Toyota and his brother-in-law, Ali, is now the owner of a Grey, 2016 Toyota Corolla CE.
Ali is one of 10 winners in the provincial association’s second annual Toyota Wish Giver contest. His nomination was chosen among 1,600 submitted across the province, between November 2nd and 23rd, by Toyota purchasers such as Amir.
“When I nominated Ali I never thought I would win a car for him, much less $20,000 for myself. I’m not a person who ever wins anything,” said Amir, who lives in Burlington.
When Amir got the call that he and Ali had won, it was hard to believe, he said.
Much harder was keeping the news of Ali’s win quiet. “I had to come up with a plan to bring him over to the dealership without letting him know what was going on,” said Amir.
So, he and his wife Maryam hatched a plan. They asked Ali to accompany them to the Guelph Line dealership saying they needed a witness to sign some of the ownership documents. He agreed immediately. But a wrinkle was thrown into the plans Tuesday morning when Ali was called in to address an issue at his workplace. It threatened to ruin the surprise. But true to his steadfast nature, which is one of the reasons Amir nominated his brother-in-law, Ali put fam ership.
While waiting at the dealership for the secret to be revealed, Amir jokingly thought Steve Harvey — the host of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant who made a headlinegrabbing blunder at the weekend competition in crowning the wrong winner — would walk into the dealership showroom and tell him ‘Oh sorry, I apologize this was a mistake
and you didn’t win a car you’ve really just won a free car wash coupon’.
“But it was real! I got $20,000 and my brother-in-law got a brand-new 2016 Toyota Corolla.”
Even more shocked was unsuspecting Ali. After he congratulated his brother-in-law on his $20,000 win, his jaw dropped when Burlington Toyota’s dealer principal, David Scherle, handed him a set of keys to a shiny new car of his own.
Scherle is one of 83 Toyota dealerships in Ontario to participate in the province-wide contest.
“On behalf of Ontario’s Toyota dealerships I’m proud that we’re able to give away a car to an individual who will use it and need it,” said Scherle. “And it’s nice to have the giveaway happen in Burlington because it could have been anywhere in Ontario.”
ton has won the contest. “The 2016 Corolla is going to a deserving individual who’s a hardworking family man,” said Scherle. “It’s so special to be giving a car to someone like this – that’s what makes this fun.”
Adam Ball of the Ontario Toyota Dealers Association who was in charge of organizing the competition said: “it’s our way of paying it forward.”