When a kind 8-year-old learned that his favorite waiter was walking to work after his car broke down, he started a $5k GoFundMe which ended up raising more than $120,000 for the struggling young father of two. Kayzen Hunter and his family regularly eat breakfast at their local waffle house in Little Rock, Arkansas, and each week, little Kayzen asks to sit in his favorite waiter’s section: Devonte’s.
“Every time he comes in, I always give him a high five,” Devonte said. Over the years, Kayzen and his family have gotten to know Devonte, and describe him and his positive attitude as “a light in the world.” Devonte has also memorized what Kayzen loves to eat; scrambled eggs with cheese, no toast, hash browns covered with cheese and an Arnold Palmer.
“Devonte always treats everyone with kindness, and he always knows exactly what I want: hash browns with cheese and eggs with cheese,” Kayzen said. “He’s a wonderful kid. He tells me jokes every time he comes in, like, ‘Hey, Devonte, I got a joke for you,’ and the next thing you know, we’re laughing,” Devonte said. “I love working at Waffle House, basically just, you know, meeting new people every day, and making their day. I come with a positive attitude. I treat everybody with positivity. I love to see everybody smile.”
Devonte’s car broke down one week, and unable to afford to fix it, he started walking and catching rides to get to the Waffle House.
When talking with him on one of their regular visits, Kayzen and his family learned about his car, and after a bit of a deeper conversation, learned about his difficult housing situation. Devonte had been previously been living in a rundown apartment with his wife and two daughters, but mold had caused his daughters to get sick, so he moved them all into a motel and had been living there for the past 8 months, paying $60 a day.
“All my tips and everything I get, it goes straight to my kids. I pay for the room daily, pay $60 a day,” Devonte shared.