A GoFundMe photo for an account raising money for Chauncy Jones. (Photo: Screenshot) 
 
 Matt White and Chauncy Jones may never have met, if it wasn't for Jones cross-town trip to the "rich people's Kroger" in search of a helping hand. 
 
 White, who lives in Memphis, Tenn., said in a Facebook post that Jones approached him at the grocery store and asked if he could carry his groceries out of the store in exchange for a box of doughnuts. 
 
 "This kid looked like he had been turned down 100 times," White wrote in a June 10 Facebook post. "He looked ashamed, hungry and broken." 
 
 White said he asked the teen whether he was at the grocery store alone, and learned Jones had taken a bus across town in "hopes of someone buying him something to eat because he and his mother had nothing at home." 
 
 “He had no phone, a bus pass, and he was depending on the graces of a stranger to feed him within the hour before the bus left,” White said. 
 
 The duo went through the grocery store grabbing frozen vegetables, pizzas, peanut butter and tooth brushes for Jones to take home. 
 
 “All the while we talked, and he told me how he makes straight A's in school and is trying to get a job to help his mom pay rent,” White said. 
 
 White drove Jones to his home and was shocked when he saw the fridge was empty, and the teen and his mother had no furniture and were sleeping on pallets on the floor. 
 
 “As we unpacked the food into their kitchen, you could see the hope coming back into Chauncy's eyes,” he said. “He knew he wasn't going to be hungry. He looked like a kid again.” 
 
 After White's Facebook post was shared thousands of times, he decided to set up a GoFundMe page for Chauncy and his mother, which has raised almost $92,000 to date. 
 
 “I didn't know this much love could exist in one place, be aimed in one direction, but seen and felt and empowered by so many people,” White said on GoFundMe. 
 
 Follow @MaryBowerman on Twitter. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/28WtrRJ ||||| Updated: Jun 27, 2016 - 5:05 PM 
 
 A South Memphis teen has lived a challenging life so far. But thanks to the kindness of a complete stranger, things are turning around. 
 
 Chauncy Jones Black is 15. His story came to light when he met a man named Matt White on June 10. Matt documented their meeting on Facebook and his since set up a GoFundMe account to help the family desperately in need. 
 
 The two met at the Kroger at Poplar and Highland. Chauncy walked up and asked if he could help load Matt’s groceries into the car in exchange for a pack of donuts, and that’s where the story really begins. 
 
 Matt took the teen into the store and went on a grocery shopping spree. He then drove Chauncy home so he didn’t have to take the bus, and the reality of the boy’s life became more heartbreaking from there. 
 
 Chauncy was living with his mother in a house, but they had nothing. No furniture aside from a couch and a couple lamps. No beds; absolutely nothing. 
 
 They slept on pads made out of sleeping bags, and their refrigerator was empty. 
 
 Matt had given the family food and other groceries, but he wanted to give them hope for a better life moving forward. 
 
 Chauncy has big dreams. He is a straight A student, he wants to work, he wants to be productive and he wants to eventually be a business owner. 
 
 The problem is, he didn’t really have a chance until now. 
 
 Matt set up a GoFundMe account with the idea of raising $250 to buy Chauncy a lawnmower so he could start cutting yards for money. The response has been incredible, and the crowdfunding website has expanded way beyond the initial goal. 
 
 $29,000 has been raised so far. 
 
 Matt is now working to provide the family with new clothes and belongings to furnish their home. Chauncy literally has not gotten new clothes in three years. It’s a sad situation, and he deserves better. 
 
 Matt also wants to help them move out of their current neighborhood, where they have been robbed before and heard gunshots right outside their windows. 
 
 Memphians and people around the country have stepped up to help this teen and his mother. The power of social media, and the innate kindness of people, may have saved this young man’s life. 
 
 © 2017 Cox Media Group. ||||| I didn't think it could happen, but it did. I'm 30 years old and I have a new hero.And he's 16.His name is Chauncy Jones Black, and last week, by God's beautiful design, he met me. I'll never forget it, here comes this kid inside the Highland Kroger asking if he could help take my groceries to my car in exchange for buying him some glazed donuts.He had me at donuts. lolWhat followed was perhaps one of the most cherished experiences of my life. That night, in a fun-filled shopping spree together, I was able to share in Chauncy's life, learn his story, and for at least one night, help him with his struggle.Chauncy lives in Memphis with his disabled mother. He is a straight A student who is doing his best to make it in a world with no money and very few resources. He wants to work and help his mother financially. He wants to become a successful business owner and offer jobs and opportunites to others in his community. What so many can take for granted, he wants. He wants food, he wants a bed, he wants to work and he wants a chance.I've created this go fund me page to help Chauncy have that chance. It starts small. A simple act of kindness, but it can ripple out and create an ocean of prosperity in the world.The first step is to get Chauncy's basic needs covered and to get him working. Right now he doesn't have an ID so he cannot apply for regular jobs until he gets that handled (we're working on that). Until then, he says he likes mowing lawns. So my hope is to raise enough money to get him a push mower.(Edit: when I started this 4 days ago, never in my wildest dreams did I think something like this would happen!! I started by asking for $250 to get Chauncy a lawn mower, lol!!! Oh my goodness !!! People have been showering Chauncy and his mother in an ocean of love and support. At this rate, I have started talking to some people about helping find them a house of there own!!! Can you imagine?! They could go from not being able to pay rent to owning home owners!!! All because of the love of strangers. This is really happening?!?! Yes, it absolutely is. Thank you all so much!! God bless you all!!!!)Right now, Chauncy is in desperate need of clothing and a bed. He sleeps on the floor in a room with no AC. His clothing sizes are:Pants: 16 (this is what he says, but neither his mother nor he are too sure, so until I take him to get measured, it might be best to go size 18 and we'll use a belt if need be). They're not sure the length either, but he's 5'3".Shirt: SmallShoes: 8 1/2A $10 Ross giftcard would mean the world to this kid. You can see in his face how ashamed he is of his tattered clothes.Also, ff you have clothes for his mother, she will be so appreciative of it. She informed me that all of their posessions were stolen a few monts ago, including all her clothes.Her sizes are:Pants: 12Shirts: mediumShoes: 8 1/2 womensThey really don't have any possessions except a couch and a few lamps. So if you have any items you think might be useful to him or his mother, I know they will greatly appreciate it. His mother said that she'd really love to be able to learn to play piano and also to just enjoy music in her house. So any old CD players or speakers would be perfect. Right now they live in silence. They truly have nothing.But here's where you can make the biggest difference: if you have job or work opportunites for Chauncy and would share some time with him and encourage him while he does some odd jobs around your house--this could change his life. His spirit is nearly broken and will take some mending. He has been poor his entire life and he needs encouragement and kindness from friends and mentors to help heal these wounds. If you have an opportunity like this for him, no matter how small, I will happily get him a ride to and from.It's so rare that we get an opportunity to affect so much change on one life. I think back to how many people poured into my life with their generosity, time, money, encouragement, and it brings me to tears. The impact that those people had on my life can never be measured. I am so grateful for the lives we share with one another, so grateful for each and every one of God's children. I cannot thank you enough for caring about Chauncy. This is his big chance, and you're making it possible. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.P.S. Please don't think that any amount of money is too small. Honestly, $5 is plenty. You shouldn't feel you have to give any more than that. I believe there are enough people who care about Chauncy and his cause that with $5 each, we will pass the goal easily.(Edit) I keep raising the goal because people just keep giving and giving to them, it's unreal. It would be a dream come true if we could raise enough money to get them their own place. God teaches us to dream and pray big. So I am. Thank you again.If you have any furniture you'd like to deliver to Chauncy or his mother, she gave me permission to put their address here (edit)for their safety, seeing as they've been robbed once before, I've taken down their address. Please feel free to contact me through a Facebook message for it. Thanks so much.If you have any items you'd like to donate to them but can't deliver, you can email me at:and me or someone else can come pick it up from you.Chauncy and I will be going to church each sunday at Hope Pres at the 11:15 service if you'd like to come hang with us. We go out for ice cream afterward and have a lot of fun!Thank you again for being willing to touch a life, to make a difference, to give Chauncy a chance. ||||| But, what has caught them by surprise is the large amount of money people have donated on the GoFundMe page, all to help make 16-year-old Chauncy's dreams come true, and it all started at Kroger.
– Matt White was grocery shopping in Memphis, Tenn., when 16-year-old Chauncy Jones asked if he could carry White's groceries to the 30-year-old's car in exchange for a pack of doughnuts. Little did Chauncy know that he was about to change his life. He told White that he had taken a bus to the "rich people's Kroger" in the hope of getting some food, since his own fridge was empty. "He looked ashamed, hungry, and broken," White writes on Facebook. So instead of buying him doughnuts, "I went on a shopping spree" for cereal, pizza, milk, soap, toothbrushes, and more. But when he drove the boy home with the haul, he discovered Chauncy and his disabled mother were truly living with "nothing," he writes, per Fox 13. "They didn't even have beds or furniture. They were sleeping on pads made out of sleeping bags, they had two lamps and nothing in their fridge." White decided to help the family even further. Chauncy "is a straight A student who is doing his best to make it in a world with no money and very few resources. He wants to work and help his mother financially," he writes on a GoFundMe page he set up to raise $250 so Chauncy could buy a lawn mower and start mowing lawns for money. Two weeks later, more than $273,000 has been raised. "I didn't know this much love could exist in one place, be aimed in one direction, but seen and felt and empowered by so many people," White says, per USA Today. The money will be put in a trust for Chauncy's education and perhaps a new home. Mother and son are now living in a hotel over security concerns, but are "getting better now," Chauncy tells WMC News. "Something told me to go to Kroger. God told me to go to Kroger." (The internet rallied for this veteran scammed out of his life savings.)