Waitress received a scholarship in acknowledgement of her act of kindness

Evoni Williams was working her shift as a waitress at Waffle House in La Marque, Texas when she noticed an elderly customer struggling. He mentioned that his hands didn’t work so well, and she also noticed that he was on oxygen and having a hard time breathing.

Williams decided to give him some assistance by cutting up the ham on his plate for him. Another customer, Laura Wolf, noticed Williams’ kind gesture and snapped a photo, which she shared on Facebook, thanking her for helping the man and encouraging others to do their part to give back:

Wolf’s post went viral, and has now been shared more than 72,000 times.

Williams, who has been working at Waffle House since her high school graduation in order to save for college, then had her kindness rewarded in the form of a $16,000 scholarship from Texas Southern University. On March 8, school officials surprised Williams at Waffle House with an oversized check. The funds can be used in $4,000 increments each semester. The city of La Marque also declared March 8 to be Evoni “Nini” Williams day, in her honor.

“This is probably more of a lifestyle of Evoni,” Mayor Bobby Hocking said. “Because she does this from her heart. It just so happens somebody got a picture of this one time of many.”

Watch Williams receive the honor and the scholarship in this emotional clip:

For her part, Williams remains modest about her selfless act. “All I know is we were busy. And all he asked was, ‘I don’t have functioning in my hands, can you cut (my ham) for me? It would be easier for me.’ I was like, sure, I stopped. I had food on the board to pick up. They were calling my name. I stepped away, came back and finished,” the 18-year-old told KPRC.

The man who she helped, 78-year-old Adrian Charpentier, was very grateful for Williams’ kindness, and was there to see her get awarded with the scholarship.

We’re so glad this caring young woman was paid forward in the most wonderful way!