Man raises money for Popeyes worker's education

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KTRK) -- A Kansas City random act of kindness is catching on, with people all over the country joining in.

A chance encounter at a fast food restaurant will now change the life of a young Kansas City woman.

She doesn't even know, but a stranger has helped to raise more than $2,000 for her to go back to college.

It all started with one positive thought, mixed with a little fried chicken.

Don Carter was in a Popeye's drive thru last night, picking up dinner after a long day. Don struck up a conversation with a young woman working at the window and she started telling him how she was working to go back to school to be a nurse.

"What kind of nurse?" Carter asked.

That's when the woman responded that it didn't even matter. Carter just assumed that the woman was exhausted.

As Carter drove home, Popeye's in hand, he couldn't stop thinking about the young woman's spark and how he could help.

"I was literally crunching on the chicken and this thought dawns on me. What if you pay for her to go to school?" said Carter.

Carter began researching how much it costs to get a nursing license: $1,500.

"I was like, we could do that, I have 1300, 1400 Facebook friends," said Carter.

He created a GoFundMe page, putting out a plea to his Facebook friends.

People all over the country saw the GoFundMe page, in just 24 hours, Carter surpassed his goal, raising more than $1,700 for the girl at Popeye's.

After WDAF aired this story, that figure jumped to over $4,400 overnight.

"Taking the risk of doing something good for somebody else, regardless how they receive it, for me, that's where life has its joy," said Carter.

The woman has no idea any of this is happening and Carter hasn't quite figured out how he's going to tell her.

"Man, what if we all started to take part in that? Even just in this city, you know, if we started to treat each other that way or just had the mind to treat each other that way, what kind of city would we have?" said Carter.

If you'd like to help, you can donate at the GoFundMe page.

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