Joshua was nearly 12 and didn’t believe in Santa, but that didn’t mean the holidays weren’t a big deal. I mean, who doesn’t like presents? That Christmas, though, this sweet boy would go on to teach an entire town the true spirit of giving.
Joshua’s mom worked part time at the animal shelter, and Joshua liked to tag along on Saturdays, helping fill the water dishes.
After his chores, he’d walk by the long line of cages and count the puppies and dogs who needed adoption. The number fluctuated, but a few days before Christmas, it was 88. Joshua liked to talk to the dogs, proclaiming that if he had the power, he would open the gates and set them free.
As a reward for helping his mom at the shelter, Joshua would get two dollars that he could take to the store to buy candy; peanut M&Ms were his favorite.
The drive home always took them the same way, and Joshua noticed that at one particular red light there was often the same man standing with a sign asking for money. He wore tattered pants, a floppy hat, and a green army jacket that was two sizes too big.
When Joshua asked his mom why she never rolled the window down to offer spare change, she told him that the man would likely use the money to buy alcohol or something that wasn’t good for him.
Just beyond the stoplight was a small convenience store where Joshua’s mother would pull over, allowing him to get his candy.
On this day, much to his mother’s surprise, Joshua came back out of the store holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“We have food at home,” she said, to which Joshua replied, “It’s not for me.”
His mother was stunned when her little boy walked down the block to that traffic light and introduced himself to the man holding the sign, handing him the sandwich. She was even more surprised when she saw Joshua chatting with the man like they were old friends, even laughing as Joshua pointed back down the road from where they had just come.
“Were you telling him your life story?” she asked, as Joshua got back in the car.
“No,” he replied. “I was just telling him how I help at the shelter and about the 88 dogs.”
On Christmas Eve, Joshua’s mother received a phone call and was told to come to the shelter and to be certain to bring her kind son. When they arrived, they saw a well-dressed man with neatly combed hair, waiting by the front desk.
Joshua’s mother didn’t see it right away, but Joshua did.
“How was your sandwich?” he asked.
“It was wonderful,” the man responded, with a wide smile.
It was the seemingly homeless man who they saw standing with that sign every Saturday.
The man explained that he was actually quite wealthy and for many years lost his way in life. For his decades of avarice and selfishness, his self-imposed penance was to spend two hours each Saturday morning, putting himself in the shoes of the needy and donating the money he was given to charity.
He was so moved by Joshua’s kindness that he decided to come to the shelter and pay the adoption fees for all 88 dogs, plus money for their first vet visit—a total of nearly $50,000 dollars.
When word of his gift made the evening news, the shelter was flooded with applications, and each and every dog was adopted out by New Year’s Day. Eighty-eight dogs, all saved by a boy, a heart, and some peanut butter and jelly.
