Kind Woman Helps A Hardworking Boy From Her Hometown Who Walks To Work Everyday In 105 Degree Weather Wearing Broken Sneakers
A single act of kindness can make a significant impact.
@kolbyshae / TikTok Twenty-year-old mother of twins, Kolby Morton, has warmed hearts on the internet with her act of kindness towards a struggling waiter, Daniel Piña.
Often, the Texas resident goes out with her grandparents to a local restaurant. She always requests to be sat in Daniel's section to be served by him. After she discovered that he had a twin sister, she felt compelled to step up to help them.
She helped a hardworking boy from her hometown who walks to work every day in 105-degree weather wearing broken sneakers.
In a video shared on August 9th, she recounted how she has gotten to know Daniel and explains his heartbreaking story.
"He's a sweet kid. You can tell, like, he's very, like, eager to work. They [he and his sister] have been living in a car... This hurt my heart on so many levels," she said.
Kolby had observed signs of struggle for some time, from seeing him walk to work in soaring temperatures to noticing his worn-out shoes. But nothing quite struck her as much as learning that, at only 19, the waiter and his twin sister had been living in their car.
Deciding to do something for the twins, she turned her feelings of empathy into action.
"They've just been on my mind ever since I've left there today. And I like to use my platform to help people as much as I can," she said. And that's exactly what she did!
Following the encounter, she took to TikTok again, this time to set up a GoFundMe for the struggling waiter.
They managed to raise a whopping $11,767! She used some of the money to buy him a car and gave the rest to him in the form of a check.
She captured the emotional moment when she presented the gifts to him.
In a follow-up video, the moment began inside the restaurant before he realized she had a life-changing surprise in store for him.
"Well, hope you don't mind, but your story really hit me because I have twins and if my twins were ever in that position, I'd hope someone [would] step up, you know, and help my babies," she said.
She took him outside to show the car she got for him, parked in the restaurant's parking lot. She bought it for $3,500 from a friend she knew from school. She clarified it has air conditioning, so he won't have to worry about the scalding Texas weather anymore. In addition to that, she had it cleaned and gave it a full tank of gas before gifting it to him.
Touched by her generosity, he covered his face with his hand as he began to tear up. "This car, this is all yours. We also got you $7,657. That's all for you," she said.
At first he was speechless as he began to break down. "Thank you very much," he said.
"Do you like it?" she asked.
"I love it," he responded.
Kolby's generous act serves as a reminder to us all that a single act of kindness can make a significant impact. It can transform someone's life in unthinkable ways. It was all possible thanks to Kolby's great sense of empathy.
Hopefully, this story can be a lesson for us to imagine ourselves in people's shoes more often than we do.
Ethan Cotler is a writer and frequent contributor to YourTango living in Boston. His writing covers entertainment, news, and human interest stories.