I just moved back to Miami, where I grew up, but I went to L.A. for college and lived there for 13 years. When I graduated college, I got a new car. I was working at a clothing store, and I needed to do something else to pay for the new bills coming in. Literally, the day that I bought the car, I registered for Lyft. I’ve driven ever since. I’ve kept going for the flexibility and, honestly, the people. 

In L.A., I had to pick and choose when to go home for the holidays — Thanksgiving or Christmas. And I used to have very sad days, spending the holidays completely alone. In 2019, I started feeling like, you know what? I’m going to do a little something for my passengers for Christmas. A lot of people are far from their family. And I know how that feels. 

I started small. I kept three or four gift bags on the front seat, with crossword puzzles, some candy, mints, little candy canes. I would get little Christmas teddy bears. Coloring books. And depending on the conversation, I would give them a gift bag. Over the years, I’ve done gift cards. Some years I’ve only done two cards, $100 each. Just something to say, Merry Christmas. 

A lot of them cry. I remember — I’m about to tear up right now — there was this college student. Her family was in Korea, and she was the first to go to college. I was the first in my family to go to college. Her parents were even farther away than my parents were. My mom came and helped me set up my dorm. Not everybody is able to have that. And the college struggle — sometimes you don’t have much money for groceries or to do anything. So I felt like she deserved a double gift. I gave her the $100 gift card along with the gift bag. She cried. And it made me cry. 

My mom always taught us to give back or just bless other people. It helped me to stay out of my funk. Even though I wasn’t able to go home, I could help make other people happy.