At a young age, many kids lack the social skills to know when to pull punches, or bite their tongue. In many cases it’s totally understandable to say that kids are the most brutally honest people on the planet, but that doesn’t mean that they lack awareness and an intrinsic need to do good for others.
Case and point: Janiyah Lewis.
Recently, Janiyah’s big heart has been making waves across social media through her kind actions and warmhearted generosity.
It all began when Janiyah and her mother, Kenyatta, were leaving a convenient store on a hot mid-July day in Virginia (USA). The mother and her daughter walked past a homeless man who was, as the Lewis’ report, crying on the streets.
In a now viral post to Kenyatta’s Facebook account, she recalls that Janiyah, without any forethought, approached the crying homeless man and said to him: “Hi sir, be happy, it’s a nice day and it’s not raining. Are you hot? Why don’t you go home — the ground is dirty.”
The man explained to 6-year-old Janiyah that he was homeless.
“She’s always had a soft spot for the homeless, and whenever we’re at a red light and see someone asking for money next to us, she makes me roll down my window to give him money,” Kenyatta Lewis, 23, said in an interview with TODAY.
According to Kenyatta’s Facebook post, Janiyah gave the homeless man some money and told him he should go to McDonald’s to get some food for himself. It was then that Janiyah and her mother learned the reason why the crying man was homeless.
“We had a small conversation and he explained his trailer burnt down and he lost everything including his wife,” claims Kenyatta. “I felt for him.”
Learn more about this random act of kindness, and how this grateful man was moved by this caring 6-year-old! Click next for more!
Upon receiving such an act of benevolence and kind-heartedness, the Lewis’ claim that the homeless man’s “whole face lit up”.
“[The man] even commented on how surprised he was to see all of this coming from a 6-year-old,” Kenyatta told TODAY.
(Source: Kenyatta Lewis)
As of today, the viral post has been shared nearly 200,000 times, and is genuinely touching the hearts of netizens worldwide. While little Janiyah is certainly proud of her actions, she and her mother didn’t stop there.
Kenyatta and her daughter created a GoFundMe campaign. According to the fundraising page, the duo are asking for donations of food, water, clothes and shoes to hand out to people in need of those items. Thanks to thoughtful supporters from all over, Kenyatta and Janiyah have already exceeded their $1,000 goal and aim to reach even higher numbers.
“I always knew she was a special kind of child but now the world will know,” says Kenyatta.
This story was originally covered by TODAY
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