Matt Busbice: Young philanthropist accidentally donates to billionaire

A nine-year-old boy gave his only dollar to a man he thought was homeless. But Matt Busbys is a businessman and millionaire who owns several outdoor sports stores. He was touched by generosity and rewarded the boy for it.

A month ago, a fire alarm went off in Matt Busbice’s apartment in Baton Rouge, the capital of the US state of Louisiana. The businessman jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs, he tells CBS. Then it turned out that it was not lit at all.

But now he was awake and decided to drink some coffee despite his mismatched clothes and disheveled hair. As he was about to enter the cafe, he remembered that he had not yet said his morning prayers, Busbys said.

As shown on the surveillance camera, Busbys went to the corner of the yard to pray. “When I slowly opened my eyes, a guy just like me came towards me,” Busbys said. The boy clenched his fists so Busbice prepared for a confrontation. But instead the boy opened his fist and showed a $1 bill.

The boy — nine-year-old Kelvin Ellis Jr. — said, “If you’re homeless, here’s a dollar.” As Kelvin explains to CBS, he’s always wanted to help a homeless person when he got the chance to do so. He received a dollar from his parents for getting good grades in school.

Busbice was so touched that he invited Kelvin to coffee and promised to get back in touch with Kelvin and his family. Then Kelvin thought of a reward for his generosity. He took the nine-year-old boy to his sporting goods store, gave him 40 seconds to choose anything he wanted, and then kept it for free. Among other things, the nine-year-old boy got hold of a new bike.

He says it was good, but the main thing for him was to help someone: “I expected happiness because I helped someone. When you give something, you feel like you get a lot out of it.

“When you give something, you really get more out of it,” Busbice said. “As a child I couldn’t understand. If we can send it, everything will change.