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Big surprise! Cary teacher gifted with new truck, $25,000 donation

Sheetz gave an East Cary Middle School teacher the surprise of a lifetime last week in celebration of Global Pay It Forward Day.

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By
Jessica Patrick
, WRAL digital journalist
CARY, N.C. — Sheetz gave an East Cary Middle School teacher the surprise of a lifetime last week in celebration of Global Pay It Forward Day.

Chris Bizzell, who has worked as a teacher and track and field coach at East Cary for four years, loves to shop at Sheetz.

To surprise him, his wife reached out to Sheetz to see if she could arrange a visit for them to visit company headquarters in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

But, to thank Bizzell for his loyalty, Sheetz officials took her request one step further and arranged for a new Ford F150 truck to be delivered to Bizzell's home -- along with a $25,000 donation to East Cary Middle School.

"This surprise means everything to me," Bizzell said in an email to WRAL News, explaining that he loves Sheetz for its atmosphere, food, clean restrooms and staff. "I have been very vocal to everyone I meet about my love for the Sheetz brand for many years. The Sheetz company and family were so generous to me by surprising me with all these gifts. I was so overwhelmed with happiness when they surprised me that I barely knew what to say! I feel truly blessed and honored."

Big surprise! Cary track coach gifted with new truck, $2,500 donation

On March 29, Ryan Sheetz, Assistant Vice President of Brand, visited Bizzell personally to deliver the truck and the news of the trip and donation.

"Just being surprised with the trip blew my mind, but seeing the check for the school and then my dream vehicle roll up into my driveway...never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this to happen to me," Bizzell said.

Bizzell told WRAL News the school is still deciding exactly what to use the $25,000 for but that it will improve the East Cary athletics department, possibly by renovating the track team’s space and adding new bleachers for parents and other spectators.

The surprise was part of a new Sheetz initiative called Time Back, which awarded Bizzell and four other Sheetz fans across the country with gifts as well as donations to help their work in the fields of eduction, cancer research and healthcare, animal rescue work and more.

The surprises coincided with Global Pay it Forward Day, or April 28.

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