MEMPHIS, TN - What would you do for $20 worth of free gas? For some, the answer is to camp out all night.
Hope Credit Union and Sycamore Bank gave away free gas to the first 200 cars lined up at the Shell gas station near Oak Court Mall.
From Perkins Extended to Highland Street, the line stretched for miles with drivers eager to get their share of $4,000 worth of free gas.
Kandy Old was the first at the pump.
“I've been out here since 10 'til 9 last night. I have a station wagon. I made a bed in the back,” Old said.
Drivers like Kandy Old weren't there for kicks, she's on disability and free gas is a lifeline.
“I need all the help I can get,” Old said.
“Twenty dollars, I can ride three or four days off of that,” Faye Garrett said.
Others can't ride without it. Drivers were in line for so long they ran out of gas before making it to the pump.
The banks behind the act of generosity had their own agenda, to steal customers away from big banks that exact exorbitant fees from customers who keep their money there.
“They've lost the personal touch. In many cases people have actually become a number,” said Hope Credit Union Program Officer Darrell Harrington.
Harrington says small banks offer that and accounts free of cost.
"We are also paying the consumer to bank with us so we also offer massive interest and cash back,” said Sycamore Bank President Ken Purvis.
While many drivers said they have no intentions of switching banks, the free gas giveaway could still pay off.
"I'm going to think about it. It's worth a thought," said gas recipient Renae Carnes on switching banks.
With gas at $3.55 a gallon for regular unleaded, $20 in the tank doesn't go very far. Even so, every driver that got it for free was grateful for it.
