FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. - A man's kind act inspired a single North Carolina mother to write about it on Facebook – her post inspired thousands to share, and, on Monday, she met the stranger whose generosity touched her heart.
Rebecca Newman wrote that a man in a pickup truck paid her family’s entry fee to Tanglewood Festival of Lights on Wednesday.
“He really doesn’t understand what he did,” said Rebecca Newman, the mom behind the viral post. “It may seem super minor to him when he did it, he really did touch a place in my heart as a mom for my children."
Newman has three children. One of her kids lives with a disability. She works a 12-hour swing shift, a part-time job and has a cleaning business on the side.
“There’s been days in my life where ... (I think) can I diaper the kids?” Newman said.
Newman said everything was going wrong Wednesday night until she got up to the booth at Tangelwood Park and found her family’s $15 entry was paid for.
“For some people it may seem like a minor gesture but it really means a lot to those who at some point in their life have had a serious struggle,” Newman said.
WGHP used the post – which includes a picture of the man's truck with a logo on it for TarHeel Residential Tree Service – to track down the good Samaritan, whose name is Alan Hill.
Hill said he decided to pay for the entry after seeing some of the kids in Newman’s car leaning out of the window.
“No big deal,” Hill said.
He didn’t realize how big of a gesture it was until seeing the post online.
“My mom was a single mom and when she wrote that post and I found out what that $15 ... it really did touch me a lot,” Hill said.
His generosity didn't stop there. On Monday, Hill called in Santa from the North Pole to meet Newman, brought some gifts and gave her a card filled with gift cards and money she can use to make Christmas extra special.
