Evoni Williams was 18 years old and had been working at a Waffle House in La Marque, Texas, for one month.
A 78-year-old customer, Adrian Charpentier, was eating with an oxygen tank beside him and hands lacking strength and coordination. Without anyone saying a word to her, Evoni took his plate and began cutting his ham. Laura Wolf, another customer, saw the scene and photographed it: “Without hesitation, she took his plate and began cutting his ham”, she later wrote on Facebook.
The photo was shared more than 35,000 times and reached Texas Southern University, where Evoni —a recent graduate who was saving every tip to pay for her studies— dreamed of enrolling in business administration. The university awarded her a 16,000-dollar scholarship, and the city of La Marque declared March 8 ‘Evoni Nini Williams Day’ in her honor.