Nation & World News
Walmart worker gives his shoes to homeless man
By Kimberly Richardson
Aug 1, 2016An act of kindness by a Walmart employee in Georgia is getting a lot of attention.
Phil Bravin Powell was working at a Walmart in Lithia Springs on Friday afternoon when he gave his shoes to a person in need.
WSB-TV's Kimberly Richardson spoke with Myrna Kines, who witnessed the exchange.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Kines said. “I walked up to the man he just gave his shoes away to and asked, ‘Did he just give you his shoes?’"
Kines went back inside Walmart, captured a picture of Powell and talked with him for a few minutes.
When Kines posted the story and picture on her Facebook page, Powell’s manager, Mike Kastensmidt, shared the post and related what happened moments before he realized that Powell wasn't wearing shoes.
Powell told Kastensmidt that he had been homeless for most of his life and knew how the man felt.
Kastensmidt took Powell back to Walmart’s shoe department and offered him any pair of shoes he wanted.
“He chose a $13 pair of slippers,” Kastensmidt said. “That's all he ‘needed.'”
Powell’s mother, Brenda Patterson, contacted Kines on Facebook and said her son has "a heart of gold."
Richardson also learned that Powell had his shoes specially made because his grandmother had breast cancer.
“That’s why his shoes were pink and white Converses,” Patterson said. "(It was) the reason why he's wearing pink socks."
Kines said she will be contacting Walmart's corporate office to tell people there what an "awesome employee they have."
>> Click here to see the Facebook post
I just witnessed this young man take the shoes off of his feet and give them to a man that needed them at Walmart on...
Posted by Myrna Kines on Friday, July 29, 2016
More Stories
The Latest
