When eight-year-old Kayzen Hunter discovered that his favorite Waffle House server and his family were struggling while living in an old motel room, Kayzen’s “amazing” act changed the life of the father of two significantly.
Kayzen Hunter has a tradition of going with his family for breakfast at the Waffle House in Little Rock, Arkansas. During these visits, he became friends with waiter Devonte Gardner. Kayzen’s mom, Vittoria Hunter, mentioned that her son and Gardner have been pals for over a year, The Blaze reported.
“It was about a year ago when they first met. My dad started going there and Kayzen would tag along. When he came home, he talked about Devonte and how much he liked him,” she said. Devonte, 29 years old, knows young Kayzen’s favorite dish by heart.
“Every time he comes in I always give him a high five because that’s what he expects,” Devonte shared. “He’s such a great kid! He tells me jokes every time like ‘Hey Devonte I got a joke for you,’ then we end up laughing,” the waiter explained. A few months back during another visit to Waffle House with his grandfather John Donofrio, Kayzen learned more about Devonte’s situation.
“Devonte mentioned if anyone knew where to find an affordable car — he’d been struggling to save up for one,” said Kayzen. He and his grandpa found out that Devonte had been walking several miles daily to work while living in a motel room with his wife and two daughters after moving out of an apartment filled with rats and black mold around eight months earlier.
“We wanted something cheap so we moved into a low-income area,” explained Devonte. “We just got tired of dealing with rats roaches & all this black mold! My daughters were getting sick too! No heat or anything like that; when it was cold outside we had to bundle up under four or five blankets just to stay warm.”
According to the Seattle Times, Kayzen felt sad about what happened to his friend so he went home & told his mom about it . “He kept saying ‘We need to start a GoFundMe page & help Devonte get some wheels,’” Vittoria recalled . “He didn’t give up on it; he’s just got such a big heart.”
Devon te Gardner’s wife Aissa Shorter found work at McDonald’s so they could take careof their daughters Jade aged three & Amoura aged two working opposite shifts.”We lost most belongings due tomold but we’re slowly getting back,”he added.
“I love my job atWaffleHouse because I can make people feel good every day,”said Devon te.”I really appreciate everyone who comesin especially little K ay zen ! For him todo this fromhis kind heart is truly humbling.”
