A Young Boy Gave Away His Last Dollar, But The Selfless Act Paid Off Big Time

Most of us have felt the urge to help someone in need, whether by offering a hot meal or a few bucks. For one 9-year-old boy in Louisiana, that desire prompted him to give up the only dollar he had to his name.

Here’s how it happened

According to reports, Kelvin Ellis Jr. was walking by a coffee shop in Baton Rouge when he saw a man he thought was homeless and offered a dollar. It was the boy’s last dollar, but he was happy to give it away because he’d always felt a desire to help someone in that situation.

“I had money,” the boy later said. “It wasn’t that much, but it could still help him get something.”

In reality, however, the man was Matt Busbice, a 42-year-old millionaire who had rushed out to the coffee shop after a fire alarm went off at his residence.

He might have looked disheveled and indigent, but he’s actually the owner of a line of retail stores specializing in hunting and other outdoor activities. And he responded to Ellis’ willingness to part with his last dollar by saying that it had been “a very long time” since he experienced “that much faith in humanity.”

Repaying his generosity

For starters, Busbice bought the boy breakfast and treated his dad to a cup of coffee. But the real payoff came when the millionaire took Ellis to one of his stores and gave him 40 seconds to pick out anything he could grab for free.

In the end, Busbice said he hopes the story delivers an important message for everyone who hears it.

“If you give, you’re actually going to get more out of that,” he said. “I couldn’t grasp that as a kid. And if we can spread that around, everything changes.”

Chris Agee May 6th, 2024

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