For every wrong-doing person in this world, we’re fortunate to know at least 3 more who have the kindest hearts. Kindness costs nothing, and yet many of us forget what a difference we could make if we just opened ourselves up to the opportunities around us.

Someone who is in a more obvious position to help others is Officer Michael Rivers. He has served at the Goldsboro Police Department in North Carolina for 9 years, which has given him plenty of opportunities to learn about the people in his neighborhood.

Unfortunately, as is the case nationwide, there is quite a large homeless community in North Carolina.

Over his years of patrolling the area, Rivers has got to know those who live on the streets quite well. But every now and then, he would come across somebody he’d never seen before.

That happened to him on one Wednesday in the middle of March. Rivers noticed a homeless woman sitting at the side of a road, wearing a t-shirt that heartbreakingly read: “Homeless. The fastest way of becoming a nobody.”

So Rivers did what he felt was his responsibility: he bought her lunch and sat with her, determined to learn her story.

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Rivers had never intended to carry out this act of kindness for publicity, but when the photo of him and the homeless woman eating together went viral, he was praised by thousands of people for such a warm-hearted gesture.

The photo was captured by a passer-by, Cassie Barnes, whose husband, Chris, shared it to Facebook, along with the caption:

“Cassie was out on her lunch break and observed Goldsboro’s Finest enjoying lunch with a homeless person. Law enforcement does so much for our community, with a lot of it going unnoticed. We see you Goldsboro P.D. Keep up the good work.”

The post was shared over 5k times and had more than 3k reactions and 500 comments.

One person commented that Rivers was a “true American hero”, adding:

“What an example for so many of the “leaders” of American, and world, society right now.”

Someone else commented:

“I have so much respect for an Officer to does something like this. Incredible.. God Bless Him.”

In an interview with CNN, Rivers said that he acknowledged the woman with a “hey” as he drove by, but something kept tugging at him to go back. He said:

“God put it on my heart to get her lunch. So I turned around and I asked her, ‘Hey, did you eat today?’ And she said, ‘No.'”

So Rivers went to the local pizza place and returned with some food for them to share.

As the two ate, they talked. The homeless woman, Rivers discovered, was called Michelle, and it turned out that she had a 12-year-old daughter with liver disease, who was in foster care. She also had a 23-year-old son, and a husband, who was also homeless.

The pair went their separate ways after finishing their food, and Rivers admitted that the interaction had taught him that there really wasn’t too much difference between Michelle and himself.

He also wanted to be clear about the fact that he had never intended to gain publicity from his actions – but also that he hoped this would remind people that there are police officers out there who are like him. Not all police officers are “bad apples”.

He added:

“I come to work and my method is, ‘Who can I bless today? Who can I make smile? “I’m not the one that wants to take somebody’s father or mother away and put them in jail.”

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Source: CNN, Facebook