A Minnesota liquor store worker decided to give her brand new sneakers to a homeless man who was digging through trash to make shoes out of cardboard boxes.
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Ta Leia Thomas saw the man digging through cardboard boxes during her shift at the Brooklyn Center Liquor Store. She said she gave him her favorite Air Jordan’s that represented her favorite football team, the Minnesota Vikings. According to the Daily Mail, the Vikings heard about her charitable story and are planning a way to celebrate her generosity.
While watching the man dig through the trash, Thomas asked him about his shoe size to which he replied “ 10 or 10 1/2.” Moments later, she decided to handover her prized sneakers. ‘I just looked around, grabbed my shoes, unlaced them and gave them to him right at the door,’ she explained to Kare11. Additionally, the man told her he was surprised by her kind effort and said, ‘nobody would ever give me shoes like that.’
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Thomas told him that she’s not like other people and cared more about his wellbeing since it was he need the shoes more than he did. ‘I didn’t care about the shoes, I cared about him.He didn’t know me, I didn’t know him. I just thought best to give him something he may need, that’s how I took it as,’ she further explained.
After learning about the good deed, Thomas’ manager, Tom Agnes and her co-workers managed to raise money for the shoes at first but learned her mother needed a new bed. Thomas would sleep on the floor in her room so her mother could sleep in her bed.
‘You know the old saying giving the shirt off your back. She literally gave the shoes off her feet.I’m like, ah. We don’t need to get Ace a pair of shoes we need to get Ace a bed. So, I gave her cash instead of the shoes to get mom a bed.I wish I could have a dozens Aces on staff.’
Her good deed also went viral on Facebook to which her employee acknowledged her kindness and said she was recently hired as a new staff member.
‘We want to take some time to acknowledge our employee, Ta Leia (AKA: “Ace”) for her kindness and compassion yesterday at Store 1.
Ace is pretty new with us at BC Liquor and she is great with customers and a very reliable employee. We all know that December in Minnesota can be a very cold time of year. A homeless man came in looking for boxes he could use as makeshift shoes. Eventually, Ace caught up with the man and gave him the shoes right off her feet. The story gets better.
This was not just a regular old pair of shoes. Ace, being a Minnesota Vikings fan, had on her favorite pair of purple Nike Air Jordans which she gave to the man with zero hesitation. This is a true example of empathy, compassion, and holiday cheer. We can all appreciate a story like this during the holiday season.’