Ford dealers treat people like family, so when the executive director of a Chicago-area dealership heard the story of a man forced to walk three hours to work and then three hours home – a 24-mile roundtrip – she and her staff stepped in to cover an $8,000 auto repair bill.

Braxton Mayes, 20, of Aurora, Illinois, had been leaving at 4 a.m. each day to walk to his job at Mosquito Joe, a pest control company, while saving money for numerous repairs needed on his 2006 GMC Yukon Denali. Jenny Yockey, of Friendly Ford in Roselle, Illinois, contacted personal friend and local radio personality “Ramblin’ Ray” Stevens, who had started a GoFundMe page to cover Mayes’ repair expenses, and arranged to have the vehicle towed to the Ford dealership.

The GMC vehicle, with nearly 250,000 miles on the odometer, was in need of multiple repairs, including tires, brakes, battery, starter and shocks. The repairs took about a week to complete and the vehicle was picked up on Thursday.

“It was indescribable,” said Yockey. “He was so humbled that people cared enough to do this. The donations weren’t all large amounts, but for the community to come together – we were all humbled by the experience.”

With the dealer picking up the tab for the repairs, the more than $10,000 that had initially been intended to cover the repair costs will instead be distributed to local food banks. Members of the community also left gas gift cards for Mayes, who walked to work for the first week at his new job at Mosquito Joe, at the dealership.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know that was going on,” said Mayes. “Once I figured out, it just made my heart drop in my stomach. I couldn’t explain it. I’m speechless. I’m eternally grateful for everyone that contributed to this.”

Mayes came into contact with Stevens on the fifth day of his lengthy commute, a challenge he had taken on out of determination to succeed at his new job.

“It was really exhausting,” said Mayes. “You just walk and listen to music. It was the best I could do.”

Yockey said the small family-owned dealer has a long history of supporting local causes, from veterans to an organization that takes miniature horses to visit children in the hospital. The dealership converted a Ford Excursion into a mobile stable for Equine Dreams, which provides horse therapy activities to children and adults with special needs.

“Doing things like this is just in our DNA,” said Yockey. “We didn’t know what was coming or what was wrong with it. We just knew this was something we wanted to help with. To not only be able to help, but cover the whole cost, it was right up our alley.”

Friendly Ford also took delivery of tens of thousands of protective masks produced by Ford as part of Project Apollo, distributing them to community groups including local authorities and area schools, as well as to some of its own employees.

Stevens, whose family has purchased about 40 vehicles from the dealer by his estimate, was on hand Thursday as Mayes’ vehicle was returned.

“This is the best Ford store in Chicago,” Stevens said.

The story of the dealer’s act of kindness has already received national attention from the likes of Fox News, ABC News, People.com and others.