Life dealt 16-year-old Chauncy Black a hand that most of us could never imagine having to live with. Even though he had a place to live with his mother, he didn’t have anything to eat.
The 16-year-old was starving and desperately trying to find a job to help his mother pay rent and bills, and buy food.
Finally, he did the only thing he could and went to the only place that had loads of food – a Kroger grocery store in an affluent neighborhood.
Little did he know that a chance encounter with a stranger would change his life forever.
Facebook/Jody Collohan
Chauncy managed to get enough change to buy a bus ticket that would take him to the “rich” part of town and back home again. His plan was to offer work in exchange for a bite of food.
When Chauncy finally arrived at the Kroger store, he boldly approached a stranger and asked if he could carry his groceries to the car in exchange for a pack of donuts.
The kind stranger, Matt White, was touched by the young man’s request.
“This boy looked like he had been rejected 100 times. He looked ashamed, hungry, and broken. In my heart, I shouted loudly “Yes!”, but I just laughed at him and said, “Yeah, man, we’ll bring you donuts.”
Matt took it upon himself to do more than what was asked of him. Matt soon discovered that Chauncy had no phone, just a bus pass and a hungry mother waiting for him at home.
Shocked by Chauncy’s situation, he decided to give him more than just a sugary breakfast.
Facebook/Matt White
He took Chancy back to the store and bought toiletries, cereal, and other necessities for himself and his mother, Barbara.
Matt went further, he delivered the groceries himself and then shared his experience on Facebook.
It was clear to Matt that Chauncy needed a helping hand. And how could he possibly ignore that?
The Good Samaritan proceeded to load up the cart with all sorts of goodies that Chauncy could take back home to his mother.
“So of course he and I went shopping. We had so much fun! We got cereal and chips and frozen veggies, pizzas, Cheetos, melons and pasta, peanut butter, milk, soap, toothbrushes, just a little bit of everything”, Matt wrote.
Facebook/Matt White
While purchasing everything Chauncy and his mother needed to survive, Matt learned that the enterprising young man was a straight-A student.
Even though Chauncy had a rough start in life, that didn’t stop him from dreaming big about helping others in need.
“This kid was awesome. Chauncy kept calling himself poor, but he told me that one day he would be rich and own his own business to help other people in his neighborhood and buy them food like I did. I was impressed,” Matt said.
Matt went on to explain that Chauncy and his mother were living on sleeping pads made out of sleeping bags, didn’t own a sofa or bed, and had nothing at all in their fridge.
He said Chauncy’s mother suffered from a disability that made walking a difficulty, as well as giving her the shakes.
Facebook/Matt White
Chauncey was offered a ride instead of taking the bus, so he agreed – but when he got home, he and his mentally ill mother didn’t expect the stranger to do this to them.
“I drove him home so he didn’t have to take the bus and when we got to his house I was really touched. He wasn’t joking. He and his mother had nothing. They didn’t even have beds or furniture. They were sleeping on pads made out of sleeping bags, they had two lamps and nothing in their fridge.”
As he unpacked the groceries, Matt could see hope returning to Chauncy’s eyes. It was like he was a normal kid again.
“As I was leaving, I hugged him and told him how much God loved him and that he would become an incredible man. I will never forget that hug. It meant more to me than any possession I own.
However, that “goodbye” wasn’t the end of this beautiful story.
As if buying groceries for a struggling family wasn’t enough, Matt created a GoFundMe page to raise money so Chauncyo could start his own lawn-mowing business.
When his story went rival, the page raised over $340,000.
It also meant he could finally have a real bed to sleep in.
The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me and there should be more people like Matt.
Chauncy always had the desire, he just needed one person to give him his chance. Bless you, both because I believe you will both bless others!
Despite the large amount of money raised in his name, Chauncy still felt the need to start his own business to support himself and help others. What a wonderful teenager.
