When a doughnut shop owner in San Diego received a scathing Yelp review regarding the homeless man that hangs out front of the store, his response not only earned him kudos for his kind-heart, but more business as well.
Brad Keller co-owns Nomad Donuts in San Diego, and last month a customer left a one-star review on Yelp because of a homeless man hanging around outside the shop.
The homeless man, Ray Taylor (58), never bothers anyone and has never looked for any handouts. Brad’s been letting him loiter in front of the shop for about a year now because Ray is a really nice guy who never asks people for food or money.
(Though some customers do buy occasionally buy him doughnuts out of the kindness of their own hearts.)
Anyway, the Yelp reviewer was annoyed by Ray’s very presence and complained.
Brad’s response was awesome!
He repled, “I know I probably lose some business . . . possibly yours, too . . . because of my choice not to chase him away. But I WON’T. He’s not looking for handouts and he tries not to bother anyone. If you stop and talk with him, maybe you’ll come to like him, too.”
Over the past two weeks, the story has gone viral and Brad’s actually seen a huge BOOST in sales because of it. People stop in to thank Brad for his kindness and being an example of a good human being in their community.
Brad decided to do a little more good with the new-found fame his actions have brought his way and set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Ray . . . and it’s almost at $5K!
While the money to help his is exciting, Ray’s just happy to have someone stick up for him and says that’s what really means the most.
