Who knew a mundane conversation about being exhausted would earn a Kansas City, Mo., Popeyes employee a free ride to complete her education? That’s exactly what happened when Donald Carter, a former Kansas City Police Department Detective, stopped by the fast food chain and initiated small talk with employee Shajuana Mays on experiencing mental fatigue.
During the brief encounter, Mays expressed that she was trying to re-enroll in nursing school. This struck a nerve with Carter who then conjured up a plan to raise the funds for financing Mays’ education. “I was literally crunching on the chicken and this thought dawns on me: ‘What if you pay for her to go to school?'” Carter told KTRK.
Initially, his plan started via Facebook. After some research, he realized that he needed to raise a total of $1,500 to pay for the young woman’s nursing license. “I have about 1,300 or so ‘Friends’ on Facebook,” Carter wrote, per the New York Daily News. “I figured if I could get about 300 of my Facebook friends to put up $5 each, we could do it no problem.”
On Carter’s GoFundMe campaign, he called upon his peers to chip in. “The thought just dawned on me…If I put the call out there, maybe people would want to do something kind for this random young woman. So I’m doing something a little different than I’ve ever thought before.”
Little did he know that the generosity from more than a handful of people would surpass his expectations. At press time, the campaign reached $14,660. The 28-year-old couldn’t suppress her gratefulness for the random act of kindness, and dubbed Carter as one of her guardian angels.
“This is definitely my angel,” she told WDAF, “and my angel eats chicken.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-17bhwpSAWs