A Walmart employee was recognized for his act of kindness.
Phil Bravin Powell works at a Douglas County, Georgia Walmart where he saw a homeless man not wearing any shoes. According to the witness Myrna Kines, Powell took the shoes off his own feet and gave them to the man.
Kines said she could not believe it. She went up to the homeless man and asked him if the employee just hand him his shoes.
Kines went inside the store to take a picture of Powell, where she posted the photo on Facebook. She said her post went viral quickly.
Kines wrote she witnessed the young man giving this man shoes off his own feet. She wrote she would be in touch with Walmart Corporate to let them know about this great employee.
Not long after she shared the story, Mike Kastensmidt, Powell’s manager, shared the post and gave, even more, details about what happened after his employee gave the shoes to the man. He said he took Powell to the shoe department and was going to buy him any pair of shoes he wanted.
Kastensmidt said Powell chose just a $13 pair of slippers, saying it was all he needed.
Brenda Patterson is Powell’s mother, and she said she contacted Kines through Facebook to let her know about her son’s heart of gold. He said giving those shoes away were in honor of his grandmother who fought breast cancer. He said the shoes he gave away were pink and white Converses and why he wears pink socks.
Patterson said her son knew the struggles of going without necessities like shoes. She said the family moved to Georgia to get away from abuse. She said she didn’t want her two sons growing up thinking it was okay for men to beat women. Patterson said she is trying to break the cycle.
Powell, since around third grade, has been living in cars, motels and shelters. The family just recently got a home to call their own. Patterson said she kept pushing through the bad times – keeping the kids in school and church. She said there were some nights she didn’t know what to do, when to do things and how things could be done.
She went on to say that she was proud of her son for the act.