MORROW, Georgia (CNN) -- Jobless for nearly a year, Michael Rivers was about to walk out of his house a few weeks ago to catch the bus for another daylong employment hunt when a radio announcement stopped him. With Ludacris at her side, single mom Joya Montgomery, 26, proudly displays keys to her car Sunday. "This is Ludacris, and I'm giving away 20 free cars. ..." The famous rapper was pulling an Oprah in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. The rapper announced that if listeners were able to pay the taxes, registration, tags and insurance, they should go to his nonprofit Ludacris Foundation Web site and write 300 words about why they deserved new wheels.
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Some 4,000 essays received after dealership partners with rapper for giveaway
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Atlanta-raised celebrity gives used cars to single mom, laid-off worker, refugee
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Program also is way for dealership possibly to write off cars as charity
Winners received 30 days of free gas, which will be a big help to @placeholder, a 26-year-old single parent of a 4-year-old, 8-year-old and 3-month-old.