Chesapeake, Va. - Steve Jones fell on tough times a few weeks ago when he got a cold, preventing him from donating plasma. The money from that helped supplement his income as a pizza delivery man.
"Times were tough," said Jones. "We were hurting." His fortunes changed on Wednesday when he dropped off about 15 pizzas at Believer's Church. Little did he know Doug Vance had a challenge for his youth ministry students.
"We said, 'Next week, bring two dollars and we're going to impact somebody's life in a positive way,'" Vance said.
Almost 200 students answered the challenge, bringing in a few dollars each. When Jones arrived with the pizza, the group surprised him with a $370 tip. "I was really overjoyed," said Jones. "When I told my wife, she went crazy. She was really happy. It took a lot of stress off her back."
In the crowd, the students began chanting his name. "Me and my friends started out the cheer from the back. We all started shouting, 'Steve! Steve! Steve!' He had his hands over his face," said Dalton Brindle, one of the students who helped donate.
"It was one of those things we planned out months ago and I was just like, 'I hope this works. I hope this is a moment we can celebrate.' When they did it, it was just really encouraging," said Vance.
The delivery of happiness was a lesson the students won't forget.
"To see the next generation, have the morals that I was brought up on - helping others, self sacrifice - it made me feel real good," said Jones.
