CHICAGO — A gas giveaway by entrepreneur and former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson caused a headache for some Chicagoans Thursday morning, and not from fuel fumes: Cars reportedly lined up overnight in anticipation of the 7 a.m. start time, causing backups near the preselected gas stations around the city.
Commenters on Wilson’s Facebook page complained of lines of cars stretching for blocks.
“I’m burning gas trying to get gas,” one user wrote.
Wilson pledged to give away $200,000 of gasoline via $50 gifts to motorists filling up Thursday, on a first-come, first-serve basis. But from social media posts, it sounded like hundreds of people were so concerned about being among the recipients they treated the event like Black Friday.
One person responded to Wilson’s initial Facebook post saying there were too “many people at the gas station on 28th (Street) and Kedzie (Avenue),” adding that “the line is all the way down to 26th and Kedzie wrapped around all the way (past) Homan and 26th.” They said they left the house at 3:45 a.m. but still “missed out on this one.”
The average price of regular was $4.84 per gallon in the city of Chicago Thursday, up from $3.28 a year ago, according to AAA. Wilson said he wanted to do what he could to ease that burden.
“The soaring price of gas has caused a hardship for too many of our citizens,” Wilson said in a news release.
The nine selected gas stations are in neighborhoods from Rogers Park and Calumet Heights to Albany Park. The full list is available on Wilson’s social media.
Wilson unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2015 and 2019. He also ran as an independent for U.S. Senate in 2020.
Wilson previously donated some 30 million face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic to the city of Chicago, Cook County Jail, the Fraternal Order of Police and numerous area hospitals, among others. He’s also donated millions to individuals who lost their job during the pandemic and to more than 1,000 churches.
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