Cop spends his lunch break sharing pizza with homeless woman – unaware someone took his photo
On any given day a town is bustling with the energy from all walks of life.
One afternoon would pan out a little differently in the town of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The threads from two very different lives would weave together, and the touching moment was captured on camera.
Officer Michael Rivers has been working for the Goldsboro police department for nine years. Throughout his tenure, he’s come to recognize the faces of the town’s local homeless population. Being a community servant is part of his job and a part that he takes to heart. One day, Rivers noticed a new face. It belonged to a homeless woman sitting on the side of the road, and his compassionate deed that followed recently captured the hearts of the internet.
The homeless woman’s shirt read: “Homeless: the fastest way of becoming a nobody”, but that day Rivers was out to prove she was anything but.
Rivers approached the woman in his vehicle, and the two made eye contact before he continued driving. But 29-year-old Rivers revealed that he felt something tugging on him to return back to the woman:
“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.'”
That was all the police officer needed. He visited a local eatery and grabbed a pepperoni and cheese pizza. Returning to the woman, he took a seat in the grass beside her and shared lunch with her.
Rivers spent 45 minutes sharing pizza with the homeless woman, who identified herself as Michelle. Good food and conversation began to flow outwards from the heartwarming deed.
Michelle revealed that she had a 12-year-old daughter, a 23-year-old son, and a husband, who was also homeless nearby.
After lunch, the woman and the police officer went their separate ways but the impact of the interaction remained engraved on the officer’s heart. He mused about the stigma often attached to the homeless.
“Homeless people are just people who are down on their luck. It can happen to anybody.”
He also mused about the stigma attached to police officers, citing that society just likes to focus on the negative stories surrounding law enforcement. Rivers mentioned that he’s never set out to ruin someone’s day, moreover help the community.
“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.”
Rivers weaved their two very different lives together that day, and a passerby was quick to snap a photo of the touching exchange.
The photo was shared on Facebook, and currently has over three thousand likes and five thousand shares. The camera lens was able to capture an inspirational moment of humanity. The post has gone on to inspire many.
A poster commented:
“What a marvelous story of compassion and kindness. Michelle my thoughts are with you and your family, I hope things turn around for you.”
The story made its rounds to the police chief of the department, Michael West. He applauded his officer for his heartfelt work.
West told CNN:
“The circumstances around our job are often an unpleasant call to service, but this picture just shows we’re human like anyone else and any chance we get to serve the community and help people, we take that chance. I’m very fortunate to have Officer Rivers in our department.”
Check out this amazing community story for yourself in the Facebook post below!
https://www.facebook.com/BarnesNC/posts/10218379887662317
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