An excerpt from Readers' Digest -
A Man Heard an Elderly Woman Was About to Lose Her House, So He Gave Her the Money to Keep It
When a Detroit man heard a woman was about to lose her house, he opened his heart—and his wallet.
By Emily Goodman
Michael Evans (right) inspires his son (left) to continue his legacy of charity. EE BERGER FOR READER'S DIGEST |
Michael Evans was standing in line at the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office in Detroit last August, waiting to pay his taxes, when he heard a disturbing sound ahead of him. The elderly woman at the window was crying—and so was the cashier helping her. Then Evans learned why: He heard the cashier inform the woman that her house was in foreclosure and headed for auction. He also heard the woman tell the cashier that her daughter had recently died.
Evans, a businessman who had just buried his father, couldn’t stomach the idea of this woman losing her home right after losing her child. He approached the window. “I don’t mean to butt in,” he said to the cashier, “but if y’all can get her house back, I’ll pay for her taxes.” The amount due: $5,000.
The two women were stunned. Their despair turned to disbelief. The cashier left for a moment to confirm the amount and that it was all right for Evans to pay it. Evans vowed to go straight to the bank and come right back with the money. And he did.
But when he returned to the treasurer’s office, he asked someone else waiting in line to hand the $5,000 check to the cashier. Evans was trying to slip away quietly and, preferably, anonymously.
“I didn’t want this attention,” he explains.
Of course, attention found him—it’s not every day that someone pays a stranger’s hefty tax bill.
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