Random Act of Kindness: 8-Year-Old Raises Over $100K for His Favorite Waffle House Waiter

When an 8-year-old boy found out his favorite Waffle House waiter was down on his luck, he wanted to help.

Penn Live reported Kayzen Hunter started a GoFundMe account – raising over $100,000 – to help his favorite Waffle House waiter, Devonte Gardner, in Little Rock, AK. During a routine breakfast visit a year ago with his grandfather, Hunter took a liking to Gardner. The Hunters started to get to know Gardner and found out he had a wife and two small children. “It was about a year ago when they met. My dad started going and Kayzen would go with him,” Kayzen’s mom, Vittoria Hunter, said. “When he came home, he talked about Devonte and how much he liked him.”

Shortly after, the Hunters found out the Gardners were having some issues – living in a motel for eight months and having car issues, which sometimes hindered Devonte getting to work. A source revealed Gardner said his apartment was infested with rats and contaminated with black mold. His children kept getting sick and they were forced to give up most of their belongings due to the black mold.“We wanted to find something affordable, so we moved into a low-income area,” Gardner said. “No heat and things like that. When it was cold outside, we had to bundle up with like four or five blankets in order to stay warm.”

That’s when the second-grader stepped in. His mother said he kept talking about helping Gardner. “He came home and told me that, ‘Hey, Mom, Devonte walks or gets a ride to work and I’m gonna start a GoFundMe,’” Hunter said “I was like, ‘Well, OK, that’s really sweet. It’s a great idea.” She says she was hesitant at first, but eventually gave in. To date, the campaign has raised $104, 013 – with the initial goal of $5,000. When the family presented Gardner with money, he said he was overwhelmed. “I started crying — I’d been quietly struggling and didn’t want to ask anybody for anything,” Gardner said.

“I love working at Waffle House because I have an opportunity to make people feel good every day. I love the people who come in, especially Kayzen. For this little guy to do this out of the kindness of his heart is really humbling.”

Thanks to the kindness of this sweet boy, the Gardners will be able to move into a new place and obtain reliable transportation.