Acts of Kindness
She gave a homeless woman her leftover scraps of food but immediately regrets it and starts to cry
When the woman finished her meal she heard the homeless woman come up behind her and quietly ask her if she had anything left. Seeing a few leftovers on her plate she decided to give the homeless woman the five fries and one chicken strip she had left then realized her mistake.
D.G. Sciortino
06.11.20

Many of us are blessed enough to be able to spend the holidays with the ones we love.

Eating lots of good food and making lots of good memories.

Unfortunately, not everyone is this fortunate.

Pixabay
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Pixabay

Some don’t have family or special ones to spend the holidays with.

And some go hungry on these days we deem to be special.

Carmen Mendez of Anaheim, California paid witness to this when she and her boyfriend were dining at a Raising Canes restaurant around Thanksgiving.

Posted by Carmen Mendez onFriday, July 10, 2015

That’s where she encountered a homeless woman begging people for their leftovers.

But seeing something like this isn’t out of the ordinary for Mendez.

“I live in an area that’s not the greatest,” she told TODAY.

Pixabay
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Pixabay

“Literally right outside my door there are homeless people at the parks. So sometimes I’ll go sit with them and ask about their day, and ask if they want to go to a shelter. I’m more than happy to put them in my car and take them there.”

Pixabay
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Pixabay

Mendez saw the woman approaching customers for their leftovers when she was waiting for her food.

“Not one person said yes, they all ignored her and threw it away it broke my heart. I have been volunteering with the homeless now for many years. They don’t repulse me or make me sick to my stomach,” Mendez wrote on her Facebook page.

Yelp/Rick S.
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Yelp/Rick S.

“I hold them all with so much love. So I told Fred if I see her before we are done eating I will give her my food.”

Mendez and her boyfriend finished eating. Though Mendez looked for her, she couldn’t spot the homeless woman.

Ty W.
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Ty W.

Mendez was heartbroken over the fact that so many people would deny this hungry woman their scraps.

She had just five fries and a chicken strip left on her plate.

She decided to give it to the homeless woman but she felt bad only leaving her scraps. This woman, she thought, deserved a full meal.

Andy V.
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Andy V.

“When I ordered the meal I asked the employee for a huge favor to please do not kick her out as we waited. I could already see the disgust on people’s faces as she sat at the table eating the leftovers I had given her. News flash people, not all homeless people smell like roses,” Mendez recalled.

Rick S.
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Rick S.

The woman was making her way out of the restaurant when Mendez stopped her.

She told her she had a whole meal for her.

“The look on her face said it all. I have never felt something like this…pure, real gratitude. That hug she gave me was like a hug I had never felt. Those tears she shed were felt deep in my heart. I held her tight and let her let it out,” Mendez wrote.

Carmen Mendez
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Carmen Mendez

Mendez had no idea that her boyfriend was snapping a photo of her embracing the homeless woman.

She ended up posting and explaining the photo on Facebook.

That post ended up going viral with more than 165,000 comments and 124,000 shares.

Adria L.
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Adria L.

“I wasn’t repulsed by it, I just held her,” Mendez said. “And that is a moment I will never ever forget. So next time (yo)u judge a homeless person think twice. Not all of them are homeless because of a drug addiction or because they are lazy.”

You can see her original post below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

I debated posting this picture but considering that today many of us are gonna be thankful for what we have and are…

Posted by Carmen Mendez onThursday, November 26, 2015

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