A Vallejo man who spends much of his time giving back to the community is in need of help himself. 48-year-old Melvin Jones runs a food pantry and serves on three city commissions. But just days before Christmas, he was struck and injured by a hit and run driver as he was moving from his wheelchair into his car. The hit-and-run took place right here in front of Jones’s family home on Sandpiper Drive. “I was getting ready to get out of the car. The first thing I do is open my door,” he said. Jones showed NBC Bay Area what he was doing when he realized a car was coming straight at him. He pulled himself into the car in the nick of time as the hit-and-run driver slammed into his wheelchair. “My wheelchair just shot out, shot out into the middle of the street,” he said. Jones wheelchair was destroyed, his car smashed and his foot broken. “The impact to my wheelchair. Like, It crushed me on the inside,” he said. Orlando Graham, founder of Vallejo’s Boys and Girls Empowerment Group says he’s heartbroken by what happened. Mel run’s the organization’s food pantry as well as serving on three city commissions including the police oversight commission. “For Vallejo, he’s probably the most important thing because he gives everything with his heart,” he said. “Mel is a pillar of this community. If you see how he interacts with the public and how the people come and look for him. He’s probably one of the best things we’ve got going here.” Graham has helped organize a GoFundMe to help his friend repair his car, buy a new wheelchair and get back up to speed “Seeing people donate seeing people saying kind things wanting to help that I’ve never met or met me only once. It really brings tears to my eyes,” Jones said. Jones is no stranger to hardship. He was paralyzed from the hips down after being wounded in a random shooting when he was 22. With the community’s help, he intends to keep giving back. “Most definitely. I’m probably going to see if I can get on one more commission board,” he said.