A police officer in Jonesboro, Arkansas proved that there is still selfless act of kindness in this world. Recently, during a night shift, John Shipman noticed a young man walking along the road at 2 a.m. in freezing cold temperatures. Shipman offered Taylor, who is a college student, a ride home, as the local news station KAIT reports.
John Shipman was moved by the student’s story who had to walk home after finishing his shift at McDonald’s every night and could not afford a car. Therefore, he launched an online fundraiser for Taylor, raising more than $6,000 dollars.
The purpose of the fundraiser of course, was to gather money that could help the Arkansas State University student, who makes the daily four-mile trek from his apartment to his job on foot, buy a car.
‘I asked Taylor, “So you went to work tonight knowing that you didn’t have a ride home, and that it was going to be freezing?”‘, Shipman said. ‘And he said “Yes sir, I have to. I don’t have any other choice.”‘
That day, after offering him a ride home, Shipman stopped by Taylor’s apartment and gave him $20 for cab rides. The officer also posted the student’s situation on Facebook, receiving an overwhelming response from the local community who offered to help Taylor.
As Taylor told KAIT, ‘These kind of people, you don’t meet every day.’
Soon enough, an online fundraiser account was set up with hundreds of donations coming in while the Jonesboro community provided Taylor with $200 worth of winter clothing.
‘I can’t put into words what it means to me that John and the community are helping me‘, the student said on The Ellen Degeneres Show.
Well, once again it is one of those simple, unexpected acts of kindness that grow to change one’s daily lives dramatically.
Sources: The Huffington Post, KAIT, The Ellen Degeneres Show