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Bay County McDonald's donates car and presents to Georgia family with autistic son

Northwest Florida Daily News - 12/24/2020

Dec. 24—CALLAWAY — A local McDonald's recently spread holiday cheer to a Georgia family struggling to find transportation.

On Wednesday, only days before Christmas, dozens of people gathered outside the McDonald's on Tyndall Parkway to watch store owners gift Christmas presents to Devon Johnson-Winters, a 15-year-old with autism from Georgia.

Devon, who was decked out in McDonald's memorabilia, was accompanied by his parents Brent and Tiffany Winters, who also received a surprise of their own: a 2019 Ford Escape.

"For us as an organization, I would like to think this is who we are in the community," said Tracy Johnstone of Johnstone Foods McDonald's, a franchisee with seven local restaurants. "We definitely have ketchup in our veins, but I think we also have a lot of empathy in our veins. ... This really manifests a belief of who we are as an organization."

Johnstone added that all of Devon's gifts, including an iPad, art set and noise canceling headphones, were bought by her organization. The vehicle, which had about 6,000 miles on it, was funded by corporate McDonald's.

Her organization learned about the Winters a couple months ago when one of her supervisors came across a Facebook post that said the family was trying to find some "golden arches" to give to Devon, she said.

With an extra pair stashed away from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, Johnstone Foods McDonald's members made the drive to Georgia to bring Devon the roughly 3-foot-tall arches. Corporate McDonald's then found out, and the donation snowballed into Wednesday's surprise, Johnstone added.

Brent Winters said the arches hold a special place in Devon's heart and often serve as the inspirations behind many of his drawings. Since Devon isn't able to take part in the same type of activities as other kids, the family was looking for the arches to give him something special of his own.

As Brent and his family stood outside McDonald's on Wednesday, he said that with all the negativity broadcast in the news today, it feels nice to be a part of a good news story.

"We're in a time of need, and this is going to change our lives," Brent said. "We've been hitching rides for about 30 days now.

"We're ... Christian, and faith is a big thing, and we've had a lot of prayers over this," he said. "It feels like prayers have been answered."

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