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BRIGHAM CITY — You usually don't see so much Christmas spirit outside a busy gas station. Then again, you probably never met the King family either.
For the past 5 years, right before Christmas, The Kings come together at the L.W.'s Travel Plaza gas station in Brigham City and give out gifts to strangers.
"We're going to fill you up," Cody Cutler told a customer Friday evening. "We're giving you free gas."
That's right: free gas. The family pays for it out of their own pockets.
We love helping other people. We love seeing the good we can bring.
–Sharon King
"We love helping other people," Sharon King said. "We love seeing the good we can bring."
Instead of buying each other presents for Christmas, they take all the money they would have spent and put it all together to buy gas. This year, the family had about $1,000, and they went until they ran out of money.
Sometimes, the people they help really need it — like last year, when they found a teenager who was trying to surprise his parents by going home for Christmas.
"He was actually in his car counting his money to figure out how much money he had to spend for gas and how much money he had to spend for something to eat," Cutler recalled.
Same for some drivers Friday evening, who said money this year was tight.
"It's kind of emotional," said Idaho Falls resident Kelly Thueson. "It's a great thing they're doing."
Family members also wash the drivers' windows and give them mint patties. All they ask in return is for the driver to pay it forward and help someone else later down the road.
Workers inside L.W.'s say customers often start feeling the Christmas spirit too, and buy drinks and snacks for each other.
"They're amazed," said assistant manager Andraya Camarena. "It's like, it just doesn't happen enough anymore. It's really nice."
But for the King family, it's not really that big of a deal to help others. If anything, they say, the people they help actually help them right back.
"It's very important to see my family learn to give instead of just take. It's not what you get for Christmas, it's what you can give," Sharon King said.
And what about the younger children? Even they say they'd rather give away gasoline than receive presents themselves simply because they like seeing other people smile.
Email: acabrero@ksl.com
