Pay it 4ward: Car lover thanked for giving back to community

Carlos Munoz owns Munoz Customs.

Giovanna Cardinalli and her daughter AnnaMaria met Munoz when he repaired their 1969 Chevy truck, which was badly damaged in a crash.

"I thought it was a goner, but Mr. Munoz restored it as lovingly as I could imagine,” AnnaMaria said.

The women soon learned that Munoz does much more than repair damaged vehicles. He is also raising money for scholarships to help young people who want to work in the automotive industry.

"He embraces the real needs of so many of our young people in providing scholarships in the automotive industry,” Giovanna said.

Munoz also organized a free Cinco de Mayo celebration and low rider show for the community.

"He does it all by himself. He absorbs a lot of the cost and the initiative and the hard work of pulling everything together, whether it's the musicians or the club members or dancers, everything you can possibly think of,” Giovanna said. “He's a one-man show."

Giovanna wanted to thank Munoz for giving back to the community, so she nominated him for Pay it 4ward.

“Oh wow. Thank you guys, I appreciate it," Munoz said after receiving $400.

Munoz said he gives back because he knows what it’s like to have a tough childhood.

"I had a hard, troubled, troubled youth,” Munoz said. “It took me a long time to get out of high school itself and when I wanted to go to college, I didn't have that opportunity to go to college"