Chick-fil-A manager moved by homeless man's cold hands offers him meal of his choice and gives him his own gloves
A fast-food restaurant owner in Birmingham, Alabama will restore your faith in humanity.
On January 7, a homeless man came to the Chick-fil-A in Highway 280 in Inverness, asking if there was some work he could do in exchange for food.
Instead of turning him away, the restaurant owner and operator Mark Meadows asked the man to sit down and gave him a free meal.
"I was about to leave when this gentleman walked in the door," Mark told Todd Starnes of Fox News. "I could tell he needed some help. We have people come in from time to time, so you kind of know."
Aside from giving him a chicken sandwich and waffle fries to eat, Meadows did the man another kindness.
Meadows noticed that the man was rubbing his hands together from the cold. ABC News reports that the temperature in Birmingham that day was down to the 30s.
Being the Good Samaritan that he was, Meadows gave the man his own gloves.
"I said, 'Take my gloves,' and when I went and got them ... he was kind of taken aback, like he didn't want to take them," Meadows told ABC News.
Eventually, the man, who Meadows said he has never seen before and has not seen since, accepted the gloves.
"He thanked me, put the gloves on and you could tell that they felt good," Meadows recounted. "They had that fur inside of them and—they were nice gloves, and he took the gloves and the food and he left and that was it."
A diner eating in the restaurant at the time took a picture of Meadows and the man talking and shared what happened on Facebook.
Andrea Stoker wrote the following as a caption to the photo she took: "I'm a Chick-fil-A fan and have been for years. I trust the food for my son and support companies that are founded on Christian beliefs.
"What I saw today just confirms why this chain is so successful—God blesses His people.
"My son and I were at the location on Highway 280 in Birmingham, AL when a man came in to escape the 35 degree temps and strong winds with all of his earthly possessions strapped to his back.
"Most businesses would force him out, but I watched as the manager walked up to him and asked if he could do anything for him. Before the man could even answer, the manager asked if he had a pair of gloves and walked to the table at which he'd been sitting and picked up his own. As he handed the man his gloves, he asked another employee to get him something to eat.
"It was wonderful to see your employees being the hands and feet of Jesus, and that my son was able to witness it all. Thank you for putting your money where your mouth is."
Stoker learned later on that Meadows was the restaurant owner, which she said "makes it even better."
Meadows previously made news when he and his staff handed free food to motorists stranded in a snowstorm.
Audrey Pitt, who has worked for Meadows for a decade now, said of her employer, "He's fantastic to work for. You get to watch someone live out an example of who you should be as a person every day."