While on his usual route one Thursday morning, a garbage truck driver noticed a woman who seemed to need help.
Mike Nance could have easily went about his day – he did have a job to do, after all. But taking a moment out of his day to lend a hand was more important to him.
“Any time you see somebody walking around with everything that they own, talking to themselves – I don’t know. It just took over me,” Mike explained.
After speaking with the woman, he decided to help by giving her some cash. He also offered her a much needed hug along with a prayer.
Mike only intended to help this one woman, but little did he know that this one act of kindness would inspire countless others to do the same.
Across the street at Dave and Charlie’s Hometown Deli, the owners Dave Kuban and Carlos Gonzales just so happened to catch what happened.
“We just saw him hugging her for, I don’t know, I want to say five minutes if that,” Carlos said. “But it was a real hug.”
Moved by the hospitality they were witnessing, Dave and Carlos found their own way to assist the woman.
“After we saw him do that, we made her a little breakfast and brought it over to her,” he said. “It’s a domino effect.”
To help keep the domino effect going, they snapped some photos of the moment between Mike and the woman and shared them in a local Facebook group. In doing so, they also hoped to find out who the garbage truck driver was so they could offer him a free meal as thanks for his generosity.
“We wanted to show him we appreciate him doing something like that,” Carlos said. “We need that in the world today.”
And thanks to the power of social media, they were able to locate him in no time! Mike was happy to hear that so many people appreciate what he did but, at the end of the day, all that matters to him is the fact that more people are finding ways to be kinder to others.
“I don’t really know how to feel about that,” Mike said. “I’m a garbage man. We’re about the community. I’m about the community. I love Norwalk. I’m from Norwalk. I was born here. So whatever I can do to help, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Don’t forget to share Mike’s story to continue the domino effect.
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