Chick-fil-A employee wins car, gifts to co-worker

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WLUK) — Giving gifts to coworkers and friends is really nothing new. But what doesn’t happen every day is when that gift is a car.

Most people wouldn't want to drive in the cold, sometimes unforgiving weather that Wisconsin can bring, let alone ride a bike in it.

“I couldn’t do it, myself!” Chick-fil-A employee Haley Bridges, 17, said. “I just – I can’t imagine how she does it.”

Hokule’a Taniguchi’s only means of transportation from her home in Neenah to her job at Chick-fil-A in Grand Chute was her bicycle.

“I was biking here every morning, so it was a little rough,” the 19-year-old said. “Because I’m from Hawaii, I was like, ‘It’s kinda cold!’”

But the fiercely independent Hawaiian native braved through it. She may have underestimated the hearts of her fellow coworkers though.

The more they all worked together and got to know each other, the closer they became, especially Haley and Hokule’a.

A Chick-fil-A Christmas party raffle would show just how tight that bond had become.

“It was kinda like the rumor at Chick-fil-A that there’s gonna be a car at the giveaway,” Bridges said. “We all put one in and we’re like, ‘If one of us gets it, it’s gonna go to her, like no matter what.’ It was not a second thought.”

Bridges promised Taniguchi that car was as good as hers, should Bridges’ name be the one called.

“Me and her are best friends, so I like 1,000% believed it,” said Taniguchi.

Then came the moment of truth. “One of my bosses picked a name out of the bag, and she said, ‘Haley Bridges,’” Taniguchi recalled.

Bridges says she was just as surprised. “I heard my name, and I was like, ‘No way!’” she said. Taniguchi couldn’t contain her excitement. “I literally screeched, like I stood up, and I ran over to her, and I gave her like the biggest hug!” she said.

Bridges remembers that moment vividly.

“We looked at each other, and just like the moment felt like everyone wasn’t there, it was just like us two.”

The usually composed Taniguchi was overwhelmed.

“I really just started crying, because I was so happy and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this is real!’”

Now that her friend has turned two wheels into four, the possibilities are endless for Hokule’a.

“Now I can go grocery shopping. I can like go to work like five minutes before now, instead of like two hours earlier, just to get here on time,” Taniguchi said. “There’s a million more opportunities and possibilities for me now!”