- When a police officer offered a ride
in the middle of the night to a young man
walking in the freezing cold,
he had no idea it would change both of their lives forever.
From Jonesboro, Arkansas,
please welcome Officer John Chipman and James.
What a wonderful story this is.
So you're driving, and it's what time of the night?
- It's 2:00 in the morning.
I had just finished up working my off-duty job.
It was about 19 degrees that night.
It'd been snowing, freezing rain in the area for a while.
I noticed James walking on the shoulder of the road,
and 2:00 in the morning--
just didn't seem to be right to be walking,
so I pulled over and offered him a ride.
- And, well, did you think he was, like--
His car broke down?
Or you just-- I mean, what did you--
It's kind of weird to see somebody--
Was it the middle of nowhere? Where was it?
- It was on Red Wolf Boulevard, and it was just outside
of Arkansas State University,
and walking right there is a little bit unusual.
It's a business district, but it's 2:00 in the morning,
and most businesses are closed.
So once James accepted a ride with me,
I then asked him, you know, where he was coming from,
and that's when I learned that he was actually
coming from his work, which was at McDonald's.
- Right, so you're-- it's 2:00 in the morning.
You had just finished your shift at McDonald's,
and is this a common occurrence?
You walk home every night? - Yes, every night.
Every night that I work-- - You walk to and from work?
- Yes. - And how far is work?
- It's four miles.
About 50 minutes to an hour away.
- Okay, well, you're in good shape.
Yeah, so you're walking, and it's freezing cold,
and you do that every night at 2:00 in the morning.
And what's going through your head
when you're walking at that hour of night?
- Well, a lot of things are going through my head,
but most of the time, I'm thinking about my mother.
You know, she works 12-hour shifts
five days in a row sometimes,
and I'm just thinking that, you know,
if she can work 12 hours in a row
five--or-- yeah, 12 hours in a row,
five days a week, you know,
I can walk two hours in total, you know, to and fro work.
And then, you know, eight or nine hours shift,
you know, it's not a big deal.
- So, well, what did you think?
Did you think you were in trouble or something?
What were you dressed like?
- Well, I had, like, two layers on, you know,
'cause it's 19 degrees,
and I had both hoodies on, hands in pockets,
so I just assumed I looked suspicious
when, you know, he was pulling me over.
- Right. - Or not pulling me over.
Stopping me. - Yeah, right.
Which was it? No.
- Messed it up, James.
- All right, so now you're good friends.
- Yes. - Yes, ma'am.
- So you're in college. - Yes.
- And what are you studying?
- Double majoring in biology and chemistry.
I'm planning on becoming a pharmacist.
[cheers and applause]
- And you're-- you're going to McDonald's
because you're trying to save up enough
to pay for college on your own.
- Pay for college, you know.
I oftentimes send money to my mom,
'cause, you know, she has trouble sometimes,
you know, paying for everything,
so I'll send money back to my mom or my friends.
- Wow.
So then, John, you posted this on Facebook
and asked the community to help out,
and what happened?
- I did. I posted on Facebook that night.
'Cause after I had learned all these things from James,
that he didn't have a vehicle, that he was walking,
going to college, carrying a 4.0,
and all the things that he was doing,
I just thought, you know,
there's something that we can do,
and the next morning,
the citizens of Jonesboro had just stepped up.
My Facebook was full, my inbox messages,
my telephone,
and by Monday morning,
we had raised him $3,000.
We had him a car, and right now,
we're actually at little over $7,000 raised.
- Wow.
[cheers and applause]
- Yeah. - That's amazing.
Good for you. - Yeah.
The citizens of Jonesboro stepped up
and hit this out of the park.
- Yeah, that's amazing.
Well, good for you for stopping
and not just giving him a ride but learning more about him,
and what an amazing young man you are.
And here's the good news.
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and we're gonna give you a check for $20,000.
[cheers and applause]
- Oh, my God.
- First of all, I think this is gonna last,
this friendship, right?
- Yes. - Yes, ma'am.
- You're gonna stay in each other's lives.
- I've got my eye on him. - Yup.
I know you said you raised three other sons, right?
- Can handle him too. - Yup, good.
So you're a police officer during the day.
At night, you're a security guard.
- Yes. - So you try to make ends meet.
Because-- - Yes.
- Okay, well, we want to help you as well.
Our friends at Shutterfly have made it possible for us
to help hundreds of people over the past three years,
and they want to help you by giving you a check
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[cheers and applause]
- Thank you so very much.
- Here you go.
[cheers and applause]