Chicago businessman gives away $1 million in gasoline relief

Chicago area motorists have queued up in droves to claim a free fill-up care of a local quasi-celebrity businessman. In some cases lines have stretched for blocks, with drivers waiting over an hour for their turn at the pump.

As Yahoo News reports, there were about four dozen gas stations offering no-cost fuel around the Chicago metro area. The giveaway was courtesy of prominent Chicago businessman Willie Wilson, who promised a top-off of $50 per car until the total reached $1 million.

In fact, this was Wilson’s second act of generosity since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. That drove oil prices up to record numbers when countries around the world imposed sanction on Russia, a major supplier of oil, primarily to western Europe. Gas prices in greater Chicago are closing in on $5 per gallon.

On March 17, Wilson conducted a smaller-scale giveaway, from 10 gas stations with a cap of $200,000. That promotion, according to Yahoo News, “led to gridlock, bad tempers and resident concerns about the environmental cost of idling engines in their neighborhoods.”

This time around Wilson laid out some rules to avoid those issues. Volunteers handed out numbered stickers to waiting motorists, and police helped direct traffic to smooth out the flow of vehicles.

Wilson, 73, was the former owner of several McDonald’s franchises in the Chicago area. He is also the owner of a medical supply company and producer on Singstation, a gospel music television program. Wilson also made unsuccessful attempts to run for mayor of Chicago and U.S. Senator to Illinois, though the gas relief was not tied to any campaign.

“I had no idea that it was going to be this big… but when it happened, it just exploded. And I was surprised like everybody else,” Wilson told ABC7 News. “A lot of people didn’t get a chance to get the free gas in the last giveaway,” he added. “They stood in line. I saw people in tears.”

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