Florida cop’s curbside breakfast with homeless man goes viral: 'He was gracious enough to eat with me'
A Florida cop’s impromptu breakfast date with a homeless man has gone viral.
Ocala Sgt. Erica Hays bought a Dunkin Donuts sandwich and a cup of coffee for a hungry homeless man — and then plopped down next to him on the curb to eat alongside him.
Photos of the touching meal, snapped by a driver stopped at a red light, have been shared thousands of times on Facebook.
Hay, a 20-year police veteran, said she had just finished a morning meeting at police headquarters and ran to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. On her way, she saw the man sitting on a curb next to a gas station.
The policewoman decided to grab an extra sandwich and coffee at the chain in case the man was still there on her walk back.
He was.
Hay said she knows most of the homeless people in Ocala, a central Florida city of 50,000 people about 30 miles south of Gainesville. However, this man was a stranger.
“He was hungry, and he appreciated it, and he’s a good person,” she said.
OCALA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Sgt. Erica Hay said she didn't know the man before she bought him breakfast.
While Hay and the man chowed down, a driver spotted the act of kindness. TiAnna Greene started taking photos of the touching moment and posted them to her Facebook.
“I don't know this officer, but, I admire her today and everyday (sic),” she wrote. “Although I was only blessed to witness less than 2 minutes of her kindness that definitely came from the heart, it truly made my morning!”
She continued: “Absolutely wonderful act of kindness that seemed to come naturally for her.”
A Florida cop’s impromptu breakfast date with a homeless man has gone viral.
Ocala Sgt. Erica Hays bought a Dunkin Donuts sandwich and a cup of coffee for a hungry homeless man — and then plopped down next to him on the curb to eat alongside him.
Photos of the touching meal, snapped by a driver stopped at a red light, have been shared thousands of times on Facebook.
Hay, a 20-year police veteran, said she had just finished a morning meeting at police headquarters and ran to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. On her way, she saw the man sitting on a curb next to a gas station.
The policewoman decided to grab an extra sandwich and coffee at the chain in case the man was still there on her walk back.
He was.
I didn’t have anyone else to eat breakfast with that morning either,” she said on “Fox & Friends” Monday. “He was gracious enough to eat with me as well.”
Hay said she knows most of the homeless people in Ocala, a central Florida city of 50,000 people about 30 miles south of Gainesville. However, this man was a stranger.
“He was hungry, and he appreciated it, and he’s a good person,” she said.
OCALA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Sgt. Erica Hay said she didn't know the man before she bought him breakfast.
While Hay and the man chowed down, a driver spotted the act of kindness. TiAnna Greene started taking photos of the touching moment and posted them to her Facebook.
“I don't know this officer, but, I admire her today and everyday (sic),” she wrote. “Although I was only blessed to witness less than 2 minutes of her kindness that definitely came from the heart, it truly made my morning!”
She continued: “Absolutely wonderful act of kindness that seemed to come naturally for her.”