ABC 7A kind-hearted teen, who dreamt of going to college, is one step closer to her goal thanks to a photo of her helping a disabled customer.
18-year-old Evoni ‘NeeNee’ Williams was awarded a $16,000 college scholarship from Texas Southern University after a photo of her helping a partially disabled customer eat his food went viral.
Evoni, who has spent the last year working at the La Marque Waffle House to save for university, was working a shift when regular customer Adrian Charpentier came in for something to eat.
I don't know her name but I heard this elderly man tell her his hands don't work too good. He was also on oxygen and…
Posted by Laura Wolf on Saturday, 3 March 2018
Mr Charpentier had just had surgery and was struggling to cut his food so Evoni grabbed a knife and fork and cut up Charpentier’s food, making it easier for him to eat.
As Evoni helped the man another customer, Laura Wolf, covertly took a photo and posted it on Facebook.
ABC 7She wrote:
I don’t know her name but I heard this elderly man tell her his hands don’t work too good. He was also on oxygen and struggling to breathe. Without hesitation, she took his place and began cutting up his ham
This may seem small 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. If we could all be like this waitress & take time to offer a helping hand.
As the post went viral it caught the attention of the town mayor Bobby Hocking and Texas Southern University who both agreed Evoni was exactly the type of person they wanted to attend their university.
ABC 7Evoni broke down in tears as she was given the money on Thursday during a small ceremony at the waffle house.
The town didn’t just cut Evoni a cheque though, Mayor Hocking also proclaimed March 8, 2018 as ‘Evoni “NeeNee” Williams Day’.
Evoni’s been blown away that her random act-of-kindness went viral believing it’s something she would do for any customer.
She told ABC 7:
I wasn’t raised to bash people or anything.
I was raised to help and try to give blessings.
Williams plans to attend Texas Southern University in the fall where she’ll study business management.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.