Random act of kindness leads to new friendship for ND couple

RAPID CITY, S.D. – There’s a saying, “no act of kindness is ever wasted.”

A North Dakota family is learning that first-hand.

They’ve experienced just how a small, simple act of kindness can change someone’s day, or even their entire life.

This is the most unlikely of friendships. Amy Hartsoch is a wife and mother from Ray, N.D. On a recent trip to Rapid City, S.D. she met her newest friend, who asked us to use his native name, Fox, to protect his privacy.

The friends met through one random act of kindness.

Just before Christmas, the Amy and her husband, Erik, were driving to their hotel when they spotted Fox struggling to get up the hill in his wheelchair.

“It was very icy. It was so cold. He only had one leg,” said Amy.

Without hesitation, they pulled over and Amy helped him up the hill.

“It just seemed like anybody would stop to do that. So, I just pushed him up the hill,” she recalled.

While Amy pushed, Fox talked.

“I was homeless,” Fox said. “I was on my second night at a motel which was going to be my last night.”

“Hearing more about his story, I just couldn’t walk away quite yet,” Amy said.

The Hartsochs gave Fox a ride to his hotel.

“It was baffling to me how he was still so positive and kind and I just knew we couldn’t just drop him off and leave,” she said.

Instead, the couple paid for his room for another week.

“I wasn’t expecting the blessing,” Fox said.

But that blessing was just the beginning.

Amy shared about the encounter on Facebook. Friends and family quickly donated more than $6,300 to help Fox.

“It’s awesome when people see the need or hear of a need and they just give,” Amy said.

The Hartsochs put that money to work. It was enough to keep Fox in that hotel until the middle of April. They also bought him food, clothes and other necessities.

Their latest purchase: a brand-new wheelchair, not knowing just how desperately Fox needed it.

“My wheelchair was falling apart,” Fox said.

And while Fox wasn’t sure about the attention, he wanted to publicly thank the Harsochs for their kindness and friendship.

“I’m a man of faith. God brought Amy into my life,” Fox said.

“We were in the right place at the right time,” Amy said.

As for Amy, she hopes her friendship with Fox might lead to more kindness from more people.

“We might not be able to change the whole world, but we can change the world for one person,” she said.

Amy admits she’s a dreamer, but her new goal is to help Fox get a prosthetic leg.

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