Justin Bieber and Hyundai raise $40,000 for charity

Justin Bieber the car salesman? Not quite.

But the pop star is making some Canadians happy after he helped sell a car for $40,000 on EBay yesterday, with the proceeds going towards updating the Stratford Skate Park in Ontario; a very special place for the singer and part of the local touring map, "Justin's Stratford."

Over the Christmas holidays, Bieber stopped by a Hyundai dealership in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, to autograph a fire engine red 2012 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0 Turbo that would be auctioned off for charity.

According to the Toronto Star, Frank Sandola, owner of Stratford Hyundai, sold Bieber's grandmother a car and thought it would be a good idea to involve the pop star in a plan to help the city. In an interview, Sandola said, "In talking with her, we tried to figure out a way that the dealership could help Justin raise money for a cause of his choice, to help locally in Stratford. I could see the Biebers are incredibly kind and caring people so the idea of donating a car with Justin Bieber's autograph just came naturally out of that conversation."

When the Biebs agreed to the auction, he gladly visited the dealership while he was home for Christmas to sign the car. The signature process was to be kept secret and due to Bieber's popularity, Sandola took extra precautions to make sure the media didn't get wind of the story before its time. Sandola said, "I had to paper the windows, because of the paparazzi. If they would have caught wind of what he was doing, this would have hit the media even before we went live. He spent about a half-hour in here, took his pictures and signed the car. I have to say, he was a very nice kid." Bieber autographed the dashboard and sun visor with silver pen. He wrote his name and drew little music notes around his signature. (Check out the pictures here)

According to the Stratford Hyundai website, "The current Skate Park was built in 2000, and is used by many for both skate boarding and BMX bikes. It is somewhere safe the kids can go and hone their talent on the ramps and rails. There is no cost to use the park and is located next to the YMCA in Stratford."

Children need an enjoyable place to play and thanks to Bieber and Hyundai, they will have a safer area to skateboard and ride their bikes.