Viral Photo of 18-Year-Old Waffle House Waitress Helping Elderly Man Lands Her $16,000 Scholarship

Photo Credit: Laura Wolf
Photo Credit: Laura Wolf

She is working at the restaurant to save for college.

An 18-year-old who was captured cutting food for an elderly man at a Waffle House in Texas has now received her generosity back.

Laura Wolf, a patron, said she was at a Waffle House in the Houston-area when she spotted Evoni Williams cutting up the food of an elderly man who was struggling to do it on his own.

The man was hooked up to an oxygen tank while eating at the restaurant.

"Without hesitation, she took his plate and began cutting up his ham," Wolf  wrote on Facebook along with a photo she took of Williams and the man. "This may seem small but to him, I'm sure it was huge. I'm thankful to have seen this act of kindness and caring at the start of my day while everything in this world seems so negative.”

A photo of the act of kindness quickly went viral and has been shared more than 35,000 times on Facebook.

Williams, who is saving up for college, graduated from Texas City High School in May and started at Waffle House a month later.

She may now attend college much sooner than expected after she received a $16,000 scholarship donated by Texas Southern University. The university said they have assigned a counselor for her to help her degree plan.

The City of La Marque also awarded Williams with her own day.

But, Williams says her gesture wasn’t anything special.

“It’s something I would do any other day," Williams told USA Today.

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