Oftentimes, we find ourselves so helpless that we lose faith in the kindness of others.
But a man from Largo was overwhelmed with emotions when he found himself on the receiving end of a random act of kindness.
Charles Reynolds, a 60-year-old man, was caught by one of the surveillance cameras in Walmart. The senior was not stealing anything but was instead, being stolen from. A man way much younger and more athletic snatched the money from a check Reynolds just cashed.
They were both filmed running through the door with the thief making a good headway from a helpless Reynolds.
Fortunately, Chad Alves-Cardoso was eventually caught and arrested but that was the end for Reynolds’ $500.
The story could’ve ended there with a criminal behind bars and a man just charging this misfortune to experience. But his plight did not go unseen.
Kari Diaz, a single mom, saw the video of Reynolds chasing the thief in vain.
She explained that she could see the desperation in the old man’s eyes, especially when he didn’t stand a chance against the thief. He could only watch as the man took off with his hard-earned money.
It struck a chord inside Diaz and compelled her to take action.
“I was a single mom, living in low-income housing about seven years ago,” said Diaz to ABC. “I know what it is to be poor.”
To help the stranger, Diaz decided to replace his stolen cash. She’s not someone who has an extra $500 lying around, though. To get the funds, she had to earn them.
“I worked all weekend. I worked about 10 hours each day. I worked about two hours more each day. To have enough money to do stuff like this,” said Diaz to the news outlet.
The two of them met for the first time at the Largo Police Department where Diaz handed him the money.
An emotional Reynolds shared about his condition and how much the gesture meant to him.
“I’m pretty much homeless and I’m doing the best I can to get up and get out of there and yea, the money meant a lot,” said Reynolds. “Just to let someone like that just reach around and take it from me just pure wasn’t going to happen.”
The world may be unfair especially to people who are just doing their best to show up every day.
Fortunately, the world still has a lot of kind-hearted people who will not hesitate to be a blessing to others.
“You know, I normally wouldn’t even think about taking it, but right now, I’m not really in the position to say no,” said Reynolds to Diaz.
A few years ago, Diaz registered her children to the Salvation Army Angel Tree because she just couldn’t afford to give them Christmas presents. She said that someone helped her and this was her way of paying it forward.
“It’s not about the people who do wrong. It’s about the people who do right.” Diaz said.
According to ABC Action News, Walmart did end up replacing the stolen money, but still, the mom wanted to do it anyway.
Check out the video below to see more on this beautiful act of kindness!
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