One early March morning, Matt was jolted awake by a fire alarm. Finding no fire, he decided to grab a coffee. Dressed casually with a backward cap, he walked to the nearest cafe, where a chance encounter with a young boy profoundly changed his outlook on life, humanity, and the world.
Upon reaching the cafe, Matt realized he had forgotten to pray that morning. So, he sneaked into a corner to fold his hands and pray. While he was standing with his eyes closed, a boy walked up to him and handed him a $1 bill, the only note he had at that time. “If you’re homeless, here’s a dollar,” 9-year-old Kelvin Ellis Jr. said to Matt, “I always wanted to help a homeless person, and I finally had the opportunity,” the boy recalled in a conversation with CBS.
Kelvin’s innocent assumption that Matt was homeless reflects the purity of a child’s heart. Eager to help, he offered his only dollar—recently earned for good grades—to whom he mistakenly believed needed it most. He didn’t know that Matt was anyone but a homeless man.
Not only is Matt not homeless, but the 42-year-old, whose full name is Matthew Busbice, is a millionaire. He is the owner of sporting goods store BuckFeather in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as the co-founder of Wildgame Innovations. He has made appearances on two reality TV shows. Despite having more than enough wealth, Matt never felt so rich as he did when the boy gave him the dollar bill, “I haven’t had that much faith in humanity in a very long time,” he shared.
Matt not only returned the bill but also decided to appreciate the boy for his generosity. He bought Kelvin breakfast and his father some coffee. He even took the boy on a 40-second shopping spree in which he could pick out whatever he wanted in BuckFeather, including a new bike. He had stumbled upon an unlikely friendship.
Kelvin felt excited but this was not what he had expected to get in return for his dollar. “Joy, because I helped someone,” Kelvin said, “Give something away, and you feel like you’ve got a lot of things from it.” Matt, on the other hand, was inspired by the boy’s selfless spirit because as a kid, he couldn’t grasp this idea of kindness.
The story of the inspiring little boy quickly spread across social media. @victoricruzz on X commented, “Sometimes the smallest acts can make the biggest waves.” @sadiesam1 wrote, “Happy tears. What a great kid!”
Speaking to Kelvin in an interview with WBRZ, Matt said, “You gave the only money in your pocket to me and thinking I was a homeless man, and that speaks volumes of your character and what this generation that’s coming up.” As Matt says, if there are more people like Kelvin, they will definitely change the world.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 9, 2024. It has since been updated.
