TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man’s story about a stranger’s act of kindness is warming hearts around the country and restoring faith in humankind.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Kevin Cate recounted his experience with a man he met at a Waffle House restaurant in Midway, Fla., last week.
Cate, a former Barack Obama campaign spokesman and the son of WFLA anchor Keith Cate, said he saw the man sitting alone in a booth, attaching money to some notes.
When asked what he was up to, the man told Cate he had been handing out $1 and $5 bills to people he meets at Waffle House, his favorite restaurant, and elsewhere. The man did not share his name.
Each notes says “Love Every Body” in bold text. The man told Cate those were the last three words his mother said to him before she passed away.
“She didn’t say ‘I love you.’ She said ‘Love everybody.’ So that’s what I’m doing,” the man said, according to Cate.
Cate said the man prints and cuts out the notes every few days, and has given away more than $13,000 to strangers since 2014.
A number of people responded to Cate’s tweets to praise the man’s act of kindness.
“Wow you have no idea how much I needed to read this. So much time spent doom scrolling on Twitter and feeling so sad and helpless about life. I forget the joy I have felt from helping those in need,” one person wrote.
“I just needed to tell you thank you for posting this. Ever since my sister was killed in the Boise mall shooting, it feels as though a snow ball effect has taken all of the light from the world,” a Twitter user who goes by Tiffany said. “This thread helped me remember the lights still here.”
It even caught the attention of actor, comedian and “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis, who liked the tweet.
