A woman in Wareham, Massachusetts, won $200 in the lottery Saturday night — and proceeded to spend not a cent of her winnings on herself. On Sofia Andrade's drive home from learning she snagged the lucky scratch ticket, the single mother of three spotted someone else who she realized needed the money much more than she did: Glenn Williams, a man who had been homeless for three years and who was out panhandling in Saturday's frigid temperatures that dipped to -2 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, Andrade said, she took Williams to a coffee shop to help him out. Upon learning that all of the local shelters were full for the night, she decided to use her lottery winnings to get him a two-night stay at a motel room. "I knew that the money never really belonged to me," Andrade said. "This money was meant to help him." She added: "He was so overwhelmed by just the generosity of a coffee that he just couldn't stop crying."
Andrade's initial act of kindness inspired several others. A local barber gave him a haircut, others donated warm clothes, and a kid even made him a Valentine's Day card. Since Saturday, the New York Daily News reports that Andrade has raised enough money for Williams to stay another week at the motel while he searches for housing. "I couldn't believe there's somebody like her," Williams said. "She deserves a lot of the credit for where I am right now."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Does Reform have a Russia problem?Talking Point Nigel Farage is ‘in bed with Putin’, claims Rachel Reeves, after party’s former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to taking bribes from the Kremlin
-
Five key questions about the Gaza peace dealThe Explainer Many ‘unresolved hurdles’ remain before Donald Trump’s 20-point plan can get the go-ahead
-
See the Northern Lights from these bucket list destinationsThe Week Recommends The dazzling displays can be spotted across Iceland, Sweden and parts of Canada
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
