A college student in Virginia, bullied because he's gay, got a free car makeover from his local repair shop

A college student in Virginia, bullied because he's gay, got a free car makeover from his local repair shop. (CNN/WDBJ)

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Bullied gay student gets free car makeover

Updated: Thursday, 23 Aug 2012, 7:07 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 23 Aug 2012, 7:06 AM EDT

ROANOKE, Va. (CNN/WDBJ) - A college student in Virginia, bullied because he's gay, just got a free car makeover from his local repair shop .

Jordan Addison barely said a word as he looked at his new and improved car this week. The people at Quality Auto Paint and Body in Roanoke spent more than 100 hours working on Addison's far for free.

There are new tires, a new paint job, tinted windows, a new security system and a stereo.

It all began two weeks ago when manager Richard Henegar Jr. heard about what happened to Addison's car. It had been vandalized four times between March and May of this year. Most of the crimes happened at Radford University. Addison believes he was targeted because he's gay.

"The first time, there were some homophobic slurs keyed into the side of it. then the second time I had dye keyed into it," said Addison.

"Once I saw the vandalism that was done to it, I said that's uncalled for. We're gonna fix your car. That's the least we can do," said Henegar.

The auto shop wanted to make it clear they don't like bullies.

"Well, I think it's awesome because it tells people that we're not gonna back down," said Jordan Griffitts.

Henegar says he asked about 10 other businesses to help. They said yes. The cost of the makeover? More than $10,000. The look on Addison's face when he saw the car? Priceless.

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