Uber Driver Davante Williams Brings Teen Passenger to Safety During a Winter Storm
TisBest is on a mission to #RedefineGifting by replacing gifts of stuff with gifts of good. In that spirit, we like to feature heartwarming stories of special people, like Davante Williams, who are also doing good in this world. We hope it inspires you to spread some kindness and love in your communities.
Davante Williams is a part-time Uber driver, but his generous spirit works 24/7. During one of his shifts, Davante and a teen passenger were stranded overnight on the highway during a major snowstorm. Once he was able to reroute them back to safety, Davante booked and paid for a hotel room for the young girl so she could rest for a couple of hours. Since his house was only a couple of blocks away, he told her he would go home and do the same. Then he offered to come back when the roads were clear to drive her to her destination at no charge.
While the young girl did eventually make it home safely, that wasn’t the only happy ending. Davante’s act of kindness went viral and he was offered a new job. Then, Davante was invited as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where he received an even bigger surprise!
Old Man Winter Puts the Brakes on Teen Uber Ride
Davante Williams is a full-time property manager and realtor who supplements his income with Uber driving on the side. When he decided to pick up a shift that cold January day, he did not see any weather alerts. After driving three customers to their destinations that snowy night, he went to pick up his fourth passenger slightly after 2:00 a.m. A young teenage girl was trying to make her way from Union Station in Washington, D.C. to her home in Williamsburg, Virginia. After her train was derailed, her parents ordered her an Uber.
As Davante drove about 20 miles on I-95 South, the conditions worsened and traffic came to a standstill. On a good day, it takes about 2 ½ hours to travel from D.C. to Williamsburg. However, the snowstorm left Davante and his teen passenger stranded, along with hundreds of other vehicles, for five hours. The girl, clearly shaken up, was in constant contact with her parents. Davante kept his own anxieties in check and assured the girl’s parents that he would keep her safe.
Davante Williams Takes the Road Less Traveled
As the temperatures lowered, so did Davante’s gas gauge. After running the heater for a while he shut off his car for five minute intervals to preserve fuel. He also gave the girl some crackers and water which he fortunately had on hand. Shortly after sunrise, some work trucks started backing up in the emergency lane and cars started making U-turns. Davante followed their lead. He cautiously maneuvered through parked cars and tractor trailers, got off the highway, and glided on to 1-95 North back to Washington, D.C.
He asked the girl to call her parents to see if they could book her a hotel room since she was not old enough. The parents said they couldn’t afford to do that. Davante then offered to book and pay for her hotel room. Her parents were understandably hesitant, but Davante assured them that her safety was his top priority. At 8:15 a.m. the girl checked into her hotel room for some much needed rest. Later that morning, she texted Davante to thank him for his kindness and informed him that a family friend would be giving her a ride home when the roads were clear. She arrived safely in Williamsburg, Virginia later that night.
Davante Williams is a Driving Force for Good
This act of kindness is not out of the ordinary for Davante Williams. Helping others is his calling. Davante loves to cook so he uses that passion to help his church and community. He has cooked over 100 meals and passed them out to homeless people. He also cooks meals and sells them to help raise funds for scholarship programs at his church. So it is no surprise that Davante did not charge for the 5-hour traffic jam and offered to pick up someone else’s hotel tab.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Davante said he is just grateful to be an example that there is still kindness in the world. “At the end of the day, the situation was larger than me and it was not about the money. It was about me doing the humane thing for me and her to be safe.”
Kindness is Contagious and TisBest Caught the Bug!
Davante’s selfless act soon went viral and has rebounded an abundance of kindness right back at him. The young passenger and her parents sent Davante texts of gratitude for her safe return. Then Uber gave Davante a shout out on its Twitter account for going above and beyond. Later, the company reimbursed him the nearly $150.00 for his passenger’s hotel room. Next, something really unexpected happened. The CEO of Alto, an upscale ride-sharing service with an office in D.C., offered Davante a part-time job to supervise and train their company’s drivers.
Davante made national headlines including a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Not one to seek the spotlight, he was humbled by all of the attention. But what happened on the show left him speechless. Guest host Mario Lopez surprised him with a $10,000 TisBest Philanthropy check! Now, as Davante Williams travels on the road of life, he can continue to sprinkle kindness like confetti along his journey.
Create More Warm Fuzzies!
Join us in the movement to #RedefineGifting by replacing gifts of stuff with gifts of good. If you feel inspired by this heartwarming story, spread a little more love in our world. Send a TisBest Charity Gift Card to those close to your heart so they can pay it forward to a charity that is close to theirs. Or give a card to a stranger as a random act of kindness. Together, you’ll do a world of good.
Share your giving stories with us on social by tagging your post with #RedefineGifting.