When Destiny Carreno stopped at a McDonald's in downtown Chicago during rush hour one evening last week, an elderly man in a wheelchair approached one of the registers and simply asked, "Help me, please." It turns out he needed help cutting his food and eating, and "to my shock, [the cashier] shut down his register and disappeared from view," Carreno writes in a Facebook post. "Not to get away from helping him, but to wash his hands and put gloves on!" Carreno, who says the man's plight "hit me so close to home" because her uncle has quadriplegia, watched in awe as the cashier named Kenny went back to the man's table and proceeded to help him eat his meal. Carreno, who calls the act "the kindest and most humble thing I had ever seen," quickly snapped a photo because it didn't seem like anyone else in the restaurant noticed what was happening.
She wanted to capture the moment and give Kenny (IDed by WGN as Kenny Soriano-Garcia) his due. "I know firsthand the difficulties they face in today's society, especially when it comes to the help they need for the smallest things like eating a meal," she tells CBS News. "It struck a personal [chord] with me, and I thought others would feel the same appreciation." They did: The photo has gone viral, and her Facebook post has so far been shared more than 355,000 times. The owner of the franchise said in a statement that they've been "overwhelmed by the positive response [Kenny] has received for his compassion and kindness" and that it's "a true testament to who Kenny is," per NBC Chicago. Check out a picture on WGN of Kenny receiving an award for his compassion, or read about another true act of kindness. (More uplifting news stories.)