Some people will do anything necessary to get ahead in life. One teenager decided that instead of waiting for life to happen, he was going to meet his fate head on. He headed to the “rich” part of town with just a bus pass and no money. He was going to do something he had never done before, but he had to do it.
Chauncey Black was inside of the Highland Kroger when he approached a stranger with one request that would forever change his life.
Life dealt 16-year-old Chauncy Black a hand that most of us could never imagine having to live with. Although he had a place to live with his mother, he didn’t have anything to eat. The poor boy was starving! So, he did the only thing he could and headed to the one place that has loads of food – a Kroger grocery store in an affluent neighborhood.
Although he had no money, Chauncy managed to scrounge up enough change for a bus pass that would get him there and back home again. His plan was to offer work in exchange for a bite of food. But, he never expected that a chance encounter with a stranger would end up changing his life forever.
Once he was inside the Kroger grocery store, Chauncy boldly approached a stranger and asked if he could carry his groceries to the car in exchange for a pack of donuts. Well, he is a teenager after all!
The kind stranger, Matt White, was moved by the young man’s request.
“This kid looked like he had been turned down 100 times. He looked ashamed, hungry and broken. In my heart I screamed a loud “yes!”, but to him I just chuckled and said, “yeah dude, we’ll get you some donuts.”
Matt soon found out that Chauncy had no phone, only a bus pass, and a hungry mother waiting at home. Chauncy was depending on the good graces of a kind stranger to help feed him before his bus returned within the hour.
Well, Matt wasn’t going to just give the teen a single pack of donuts and leave it at that. It was apparent that the kid needed a helping hand. How could he 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, needless to say, he and I went on a shopping spree. We had so much fun! We got cereal and chips and frozen veggies, pizzas, Cheetos, melons and pasta, peanut butter, milk, soap, tooth brushes, just a little bit of everything.”
While they were shopping for all the things that Chauncy and his mom needed to survive, Matt discovered that the enterprising young man was a straight-A student, and he was trying to get a job to help his mother pay rent.
“This kid was amazing. Chauncy kept calling himself poor, but he told me that one day he was gonna be wealthy and own his own businesses so that he could help other people in his neighborhood and buy them groceries like me. I was in awe.”
Even though Chauncy had a rough start in life, that didn’t stop him from having big dreams of helping others in need.
Chauncey was offered a ride instead of taking the bus so he accepted – but upon arriving home he and his mentally ill mother never expected the stranger to do this for them.
“I gave him a ride home so that he didn’t have to take the bus and when we got to his house I was truly humbled. He wasn’t kidding. He and his mom 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.”
Matt could tell that Chauncy’s mother was medically fragile – she shook uncontrollably, and it was difficult for her to walk.
As the pair unpacked the groceries, Matt could see hope coming back into Chauncy’s eyes. It was like he was just a regular kid again.
“As I was leaving I gave him a hug and told him how much God loved him and that he was going to grow up to be an incredible man. I’ll never forget that hug. It meant more to me than any possession I have.”
However, that “goodbye” wasn’t actually the end of this beautiful story. Matt didn’t just leave Chauncy with a load of groceries that day. He setup a GoFundMe account to raise money for the necessities that this family desperately needed.
Chauncy needed pants for his mother, and a $10 Ross gift card for himself. He was ashamed of his tattered clothes. But, Chauncy didn’t just get a $10 gift card – an incredible $341K was raised in response to this family’s basic needs. It also meant that Chauncy could purchase the equipment he needed to start his own lawn mowing business.
It also meant that he could finally get a real bed to sleep in.
Watch this video to find out more about Chauncy’s incredible story!
The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze. Not only did Matt help out Chauncy and his mother, but the response from social media was incredible as well. Despite the large amount of money that was raised on his behalf, Chauncy still felt the need to start his own business so that he could be self-sufficient and help others. What an amazing teen!
