Kind Hearted Stranger Helps A Struggling Mom Before Both Their Lives Take A Dramatic Turn

Kind-hearted stranger helps a struggling mom before both of their lives take a dramatic turn. One hectic trip to the store brought Jamie Lynn Knighton to the brink of insanity until an unexpected interaction saved her from having a total meltdown. Indebted to a stranger, Jamie Lynn wanted to return the favor the next day. But when she tried to contact him, she found that making things even wouldn't be so simple. Jamie Lynn Knighton had a lot on her plate. See, she and her husband recently welcomed a new baby into the world, and she had devoted nearly all her time and energy into caring for him. She knew she could really use a guardian angel. Following a draining trip, Jamie Lynn touched down in Southern California. She would have liked nothing more than to go home and sleep, but the Knightons had almost no food left in the house. She decided to make a quick run to the store. So Jamie Lynn head over to the Trader Joe's in Oceanside with her five-month-old in tow. Weaving through the busy aisle, she filled up her cart with a number of items. However, this errand wasn't going as smoothly as she hoped. Her worn-out infant was throwing a tantrum in the store. Between trying to calm him down and apologizing to other customers around them, Jamie Lynn barely had time to scan the shelves for food she wanted. Finally, the tired mom and kid made it to checkout. With any luck, the line would move swiftly and they could get home in a matter of minutes. Jamie Lynn stepped up to the register and pulled out her credit card. Except each time she swiped, the register declined her card. Realizing that the bank thought she was still traveling, Jamie Lynn panicked. How was she going to pay for this huge grocery order? Moments later, she felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around to face a stranger. Without giving him a chance to speak, the stressed mom said she was sorry for the delay. The last thing she needed was a customer screaming too. Except, scanning over Jamie Lynn's $200 order, the customer who introduced himself as Matthew Jackson, made a shocking offer. He said he would pay for her entire cart, though with one condition. Jamie Lynn had to pay it forward and someday do the same for someone else in need. Grateful beyond belief, she accepted his generous proposition. The mom also insisted on jotting down Matthew's information so she could pay him back. Matthew mentioned he worked at a nearby LA Fitness, so Jamie Lynn called the gym the next day. When she asked for Matthew Jackson, however, all she heard on the other line was a sob. That sobbing came from Angela Lavender, the manager of the LA Fitness. Once she took a moment to calm herself, Angela explained that Matthew wouldn't be able to meet. There had been an accident. Less than 24 hours after Matthew paid for the Knighton's groceries, his car had veered into a tree. Two passengers with him entered the hospital with severe injuries, but Matthew got the worst of the crash. He died from the trauma shortly after. This news shook Jamie Lynn to her core. Was it possible that the life of this good Samaritan was snuffed out just moments after their brief meeting? She soon found out that his selflessness wasn't an isolated incident either. Notably, Matthew and his mother traveled to Phoenix, Arizona one summer. When he spotted a homeless man sitting alone on the sidewalk, Matthew jumped out of a car on a busy street to hand him a bottle of water. It was so unfair, Jamie Lynn thought, for this young man's bright future to be cut short. At the very least, however, she pledged to make good on her final promise to Matthew. She would pay it forward. So Jamie Lynn went online and set up an organization called Matthew's Legacy. She asked all interested members to please do something extraordinary for a stranger, to honor Matthew's legacy and help restore faith in humanity. Jamie Lynn began sharing photos, like the one below, and stories of her family performing various acts of kindness. Soon the number of members of Matthew's Legacy climbed into the thousands, and then the tens of thousands. Other people started submitting stories too. People from all over the world posted themselves paying it forward, big and small experiences with kind strangers. Collectively, they were really making a difference in the world. This fact was not lost on Matthew's friends and family either. Nick Carlson, one of the passengers in Matthew's car during the fatal crash, saw it as a perfect tribute to his friend. Speaking to Matthew's special character, Nick said he always wanted to make people feel better or fix a problem that they had. For Jamie Lynn, it was a cathartic experience to somehow pay back the kindness she received at such a vulnerable moment. Matthew's Legacy gave her a chance to teach her children the value of good deeds. They saw firsthand one little action can affect people. Matthew deserved more out of life. However, now thousands of people are following his example and living out the values that he stood for. Just take, for example, this family from Colorado. It should come as no surprise, but homelessness can really wear on a person. With no stability in life, it can be nearly impossible to find a job or the money necessary to fix your situation. Olivia and her family knew all about that. As the winter of 2016 approached, Olivia, her husband Eric, and their three children found life pretty hopeless. They lived in a converted school bus that repeatedly broke down, and they had no money, no jobs, and no prospects. Nothing was going well for them. The family moved from Florida to Missouri in hopes of a better life, but they found few opportunities there. They hit the road again, but they hadn't even traveled a thousand miles before their bus broke down in Colorado. At that point, they were homeless, jobless, penniless, and stuck. From there, the nightmare worsened. Someone stole all of Eric's IDs. They couldn't find work and making matters infinitely worse. They couldn't find the money for RV sites. That's how they ended up parked behind a gas station on Thanksgiving Day. We didn't think we were going to have a Christmas at all, Olivia told Denver 7 News. We'd have been lucky if we had enough food or if we got jobs. As a family, they were at rock bottom, and then they came face-to-face with Virginia Kitch. It was a strange set of circumstances that allowed for Virginia and Olivia to meet. Back in September 2016, Virginia had been selling some items from her basement on Craigslist when several interesting responses filled her mailbox. Single mothers seemed to be the only people responding to Virginia's Craigslist postings. None of them could afford Virginia's stuff, but they all offered to exchange work for the items they wanted. That's when Virginia had an idea. Instead of selling the junk she cleaned out of the basement, Virginia decided to give it away. Take what you need, she told the inquiring mothers. Virginia wanted to support those in need, and she truly enjoyed the feeling that came from being generous. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Virginia, her husband, and their three teenage daughters were passing out food to the homeless around town. They knew about the family living behind the gas station in a broken-down bus, so they prepared them a Thanksgiving meal. But when Virginia and her family knocked on the bus's door and came face-to-face with Olivia and her kids, they saw something eerie. It was like looking in a mirror. There, homeless, broke, and hungry, were a mother, a father, and three little girls. In another life, it could have been the Kinch family in that bus, and that broke Virginia's heart. We fed them and went home and cried, Virginia told Denver 7 News, and decided that we needed to do something. But what could they do? Virginia and her husband had their own house and children to take care of. Still, the family had an unbelievable idea. The Kinch family had a second house in the city of Greeley, Colorado. Virginia and her husband had planned to rent or sell it, but after chatting with Olivia behind the gas station, they thought of a better use for it. That's how Virginia ended up driving back to ask Olivia and her family if they wanted to move into the Kinch's spare house. I just didn't think it was real, Olivia said, like a cruel joke, because who does that? Nobody does that. We just couldn't leave them like that, with those little babies in the cold, Virginia told the Longmont Daily Times Call. She donated her house to people she didn't know at all, until they got back on their feet, but Virginia wasn't finished. For a week, Virginia and her family collected donations of food, clothes, and toys from people around town. Her teenage daughters even offered to return Christmas presents so more money could go to supporting Olivia and her kids. The community had even more surprises for the struggling family. Remember that Olivia's husband, Eric, had lost all of his forms of identification somewhere along the way to Colorado? Well, the local church in Greeley, Colorado, stepped in and helped find replacements. While Eric had his IDs replaced, Olivia found daycare for her kids. Without having to care for and supervise them 24 hours per day, she and her husband were free to interview for jobs again. They had momentum in the right direction. It can be really difficult to get out of homelessness. People don't understand that it's so unstable. It's so hard to get your footing and get out of it, explained Olivia. Thanks to Virginia, though, this family was certainly on their way. Meanwhile, Virginia plotted what to do with the property once Olivia and her family were able to secure a residence of their own. If all went well, she figured she'd loan the house to another homeless family in need. In the end, because Virginia and her family cared about others so much, Olivia and her kids were able to have a very merry indoor Christmas. Olivia said it best. People just need someone to care.