Jasmine
Greg Smith is the founder of Hybrid Athletes LLC in Orlando, Florida. He credits his family and his “two amazing parents” for helping him pursue his dreams.
Orlando, Florida resident Greg Smith suspected that the reason why so many homeless people asked him for money was that he wore an expensive-looking suit to work every day. Yet there was one homeless woman who caught his eye—and it was partly because she never actually solicited spare change.
On his way to work, Greg would pass by the same homeless woman almost every day. Instead of begging for money, he noticed that she would smile and offer a warm, polite greeting. Over the next few weeks, Greg began chatting with the woman, whose name is Amy Jo.
“Meet Amy Joe,” Greg wrote on his Facebook page. “For the last few weeks each Tuesday, Amy Joe and I meet in downtown Orlando. Each day for about a week, I saw Amy Joe at this corner and she never asked for money.”
“She smiled and simply said, ‘Good morning, Sir. Have a great day. God bless,’” Greg continued. “I wear a suit to work every day so I get asked for money quite often downtown, but never once from Amy Joe.” The more he ran into her, the more Greg wanted to know Amy Joe’s story, but he never could have anticipated the secret she was keeping.
Greg discovered that Amy Jo is a kind and gentle person who was simply dealt a rough hand in life. Friendly exchanges led to longer conversations, and pretty soon Greg was taking Amy Jo to lunch every week.
The two unlikely friends would sit down together and enjoy a meal.
But one day, Amy Jo admitted something to Greg about herself that changed the course of their lives forever. “Last week Amy Joe kind of dropped a bomb on me…” he wrote on Facebook.
“Every Tuesday Amy Joe and I now have lunch together. For 30 minutes to an hour, I get to hear how positive she is even though she really has nothing. [But] last week Amy Joe dropped a bomb on me,” Greg said.
“She cannot read. Amy Joe does not smoke, drink, have a drug addiction, or anything to that nature. She simply just has never had anyone teach her how to read.” Greg was shocked to hear Amy Joe lacked this very basic skill. “She told me how hard it was for her to find work not being able to read.”
“She began to tell me any money that she can collect she uses to check out library books that help with learning to read instead of buying food,” Greg continued. “This crushed me! She would rather learn to read to maybe find a job than eat!”
“I have been blessed with two amazing parents and a family that has always had resources to provide me with anything I wanted to do,” he admitted. “Amy Joe has not.” Overwhelmed by this news, Greg decided to do something extra special for his new friend and lunch date. “So now not only do Amy Joe and I sit and have lunch,” he began, “I’m teaching her to read. I rent one library book a week and we read it together [on] Tuesday and she practices on her own throughout the rest of the week.”
It should be noted that while most American libraries don’t charge for library cards, people like Amy Joe—who don’t have a permanent address—have no choice but to pay for their books. It doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the way the system works.
“I wanted to share this because maybe this can lead to someone helping another person,” Greg further explained. “There are a lot of people out there like Amy Joe, not all are hungry, homeless, or hurt. Some could be your family or friends.”
Watch the video below to see why strangers from all over the world are now sending Greg messages of gratitude:
Greg pointed out that it wouldn’t require much effort. “Helping someone could be as easy as saying hello and smiling. I have been fortunate enough in my finances that I can take care of Amy Joe, so that’s what I’m going to do.” He finished his post with this thoughtful line: “You never know what you can do for someone until you try. Who is your Amy Joe?”
How beautiful! Hopefully, more people will follow Greg’s lead by going out of their way to be generous to others who aren’t as fortunate. There is always someone who deserves your love and kindness!