'Helping people makes me happy': Good Samaritan gives his boots to someone in need at gas station

Jay'Juan Jones: "I'm not in the best position myself, but if I can help, I can help, I don't mind. Helping people makes me happy."

Katherine Scott Image
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Good Samaritan gives his boots to someone in need at Del. gas station
The social media pictures showed a good Samaritan giving his boots to a man that had none.

CLAYMONT, Delaware (WPVI) -- John Berl III, owner of Uncle John's BBQ Stand in Claymont, Delaware, snapped photos at a nearby gas station and posted them on his Facebook page to spread the kindness he witnessed.

"I was just like, 'Did my man just give him the shoes off of his feet?' And he starts walking over in his socks," Berl recalled.

Berl's pictures showed a good Samaritan giving his boots to a man that had none.

The post was shared over and over, and soon Berl learned the good Samaritan's name: Jay'Juan Jones.

"I had Facebook messages, I had text messages, I had phone calls," said Jones of Wilmington.

Jones, 24, did not realize the kindness was captured on camera.

Jones said he saw a man who was barefoot on a cold morning and knew he needed to help.

"I'm not in the best position myself, but if I can help, I can help, I don't mind. Helping people makes me happy," Jones explained.

Jones, who works the overnight shift at the Target distribution center in Logan Township, New Jersey, said everyone around him always taught him to be kind and look out for others.

"My mom always used to say, 'be grateful for what you have because you don't have to have anything,'" Jones said.

Jones continued, "My mentor and my coach Kerry Galloway, he always told me just help somebody. If you can help one person, you never know, that person can take that blessing and help someone else."

The generosity stopped Berl in his tracks.

"I just wanted to thank him, seriously, that was the nicest thing I've ever seen anybody do," Berl added.

Jones hopes people find their own ways to help, in whatever way they can.

"You can hold the door for somebody. That can make you feel good, you never know- somebody could be having a bad day. You could make somebody's day. People have made my day and honestly never knew it," Jones said.

"It was an amazing, selfless gesture, that if anybody could learn something from anybody in this world, it's this guy right here. Kindness wins, man," Berl said.