Random acts of kindness can make a huge impact on the life of a person, just like it did for Kenneth Smith.
Smith had no home and was sitting in a chair outside an Outback Steakhouse in Fort Worth, Texas when a customer leaving the restaurant asked if he was okay. He responded saying, “No, I’m not OK at this time,” Smith said.
The woman gave him a $100 gift card to buy dinner and while he was eating, he met the restaurant’s managing partner, Laura Hodges.
Hodges told Smith she wanted him to never go hungry, “I want you to always have somewhere that you can get a warm meal. So, here’s my business card. Bring it anytime.”
For the next several months, Smith would stop by for food, and last month, he asked for a job and started bussing tables.
He was still homeless and needed a place to stay, so Hodges asked for recommendations for an affordable motel on the Fort Worth Foodies Facebook group.
The group went above and beyond motel recommendations and raised $2,200 for Smith. They booked him a six-week stay at a nearby hotel and gave Smith clothing, kitchen items, groceries and even a bicycle.
“I think it’s so much of a good blessing,” Smith said.
“I had absolutely no idea that people were going to latch onto that,” Hodges added. “All they wanted to do was throw assistance out there and resources in any way that they possibly could.”
Smith is now saving for a car and then home. “This is a whole new beginning that God has blessed me with, so I’m trying to get on this right, good track that He wants me to stay on,” Smith told the station.
“God is good,” he added. “If He can do it for me, He can do it for anybody else.” Hodges is now looking for the woman who gave Smith that $100 gift card. “She blessed both of our lives,” Hodges said. “This has been a great thing for both of us.”
“I’m blown away by the generosity of people,” she added. “It’s absolutely amazing.”
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