The number of people who struggle to make ends meet is huge. The coronavirus pandemic made things even worse for a lot of families who lost their jobs because of all the businesses which were forced to shut down.

Malisa Manguso is a single mother of two boys. Like most other moms in her position, she lives on a budget. Despite that, her children are happy and well-behaved because she teaches them to appreciate the simple things in life.

Some time ago, she and her sons went shopping for new shoes for her older son Zachary. The boy was told to choose wisely because the budget was only $20. “I had the same shoes for about nine months and the bottoms of them were destroyed,” 11-year-old Zach told KTVB.

As Malisa and Zach were discussing his choices, one man overheard their conversation. Lito Mason happened to be buying shoes himself when he heard that Zach only had a buget of $20 for new shoes he desperately needed for school.

“She was working with a budget and I get that, we all get that at this time of the year, back to school. I asked him, ‘so what type of shoes do you like?’ He said ‘I just want something that’s comfortable.’ I was done! At that point, I said I’m going to get him whatever he wants,” Lito shared once the story of the encounter between him and the family went viral.

When this stranger offered to pay for any shoes Zach would pick, Malisa was left speechless. No one has ever done anything like that for her or her boys.

“He just out of the blue looked at me and said, ‘I tell you what, that kid has to have good shoes on his feet and has to be looking good to go to junior high. You just pick out the shoes, and don’t worry about the price,’” Malisa shared with KTVB. “For the first time in a long time, I saw Zachary light up, and be so happy.”

Malisa was extremely thankful, so she asked if she could take a photo of Lito and her son. Lito agreed, not knowing the photo would end up on the Internet, making him a hero.

Once it was posted, someone recognized Lito and tagged him. In no time, he started receiving messages of people who praised him for his kindness.

“I didn’t realize it was going to be such a big deal,” he said. “To see me plastered all over the internet? I’m really a shy guy. It’s just something I wanted to do,” Lito explained. “For one time in his life, I didn’t want him to worry about a price, and it was simple as that.”

Well, you know what they say, even the tiniest act of kindness can go a long way!