James Johnston, owner of J&J Lawn Service in West Virginia was driving home from his job when he felt a strong urge to help someone he encountered during his way home.
“A simple act of kindness can make a tremendous impact on a person’s life.”
True to the old adage, making a difference in someone’s life is not hard. In fact, it only takes a simple act of kindness to make someone’s day or life, a lot better.
Apparently, an old man was struggling to mow his lawn. The yard was wide and the old man only had a push mower to knock down the tall grass that filled his yard.
Despite already spending 12 hours cutting down other people’s lawns, James did not hesitate to park his truck and help the old man.
Putting his relaxation on hold for a little while, James approached the old man and offered his services.
“So I turned around and went back and unloaded my mower and drove across the street and asked the gentleman if I could help. His eyes lit up and I took that as a yes. I ran down, jumped on my mower and went to work.” James shared on his J&J Lawn Service Facebook account.
While chopping down the tall grasses with his business mower, James looked over the old man who obviously looked tired.
He was by his wife, resting his head on her shoulder, recharging after a tiresome struggle with the tall grasses on his yard.
After a few minutes, James was already done. He raised his hands and turned to the couple to give them a thumbs up, indicating that he’s already done. The kind business man went back to his truck and loaded up his business mower.
Before he left, the old man’s wife approached James, expressing her gratefulness for his compassionate act.
According to the wife, their riding mower was broken. Unfortunately, they do not have enough money to buy a new mower, so her old husband had no choice but to use their small push mower on their vast yard.
“It only took 15 minutes of my time but I changed their life for a small moment. I hope someone reads this and feels like doing something good for someone tomorrow. I’m grateful to be where I’m at and I’m thankful for the people who helped me get here.”
James shared on his J&J Lawn Service Facebook account, encouraging people across the globe to be a blessing and be of help to other people.
The good Samaritan’s act of kindness does not stop there. James couldn’t shrug the couple out of his mind on his way home. Thinking about what else he can do for the couple, James launched a GoFundMe page for them.
On behalf of his company, James donated some of his own money to encourage other businesses to match his donation. He wanted to prove that there are still a lot of good samaritans in this world who will not hesitate to help other people.
True to his belief, in just a matter of 11 days, 151 people pitched in and raised $3,980 for the couple’s lawn mower.
James’ original goal is only a thousand bucks but the overwhelming support of people across continents prove that there are still a lot of kindness and generosity in the world!
Kindness need not be grand, for kindness is the act of doing what you can, where you are, with what you have… Just like what James did, may we all be inspired to be an agent of kindness!