Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Matt Busbice and his partners have built and sold several outdoor companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But Busbice, the 42-year-old owner of sporting goods store BuckFeather in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he has never felt richer than he did the day he received a single dollar.
“I haven’t had that much faith in humanity in a very long time,” Busbice said.
He says it all began about a month ago. It was early morning, and the fire alarm was going off inside his condo complex. So, Busbice shot out of bed and raced down the stairs only to discover there was no fire. But he was awake now, so even though he was wearing mismatched clothes and was disheveled, he decided to go out for a cup of coffee.
As he was about to enter the coffee shop, he remembered he hadn’t done his morning prayer. So as the security camera shows, Busbice stepped to the corner of the patio to pray.
“And I started to slowly open my eyes, and there’s a kid coming at me, about my height,” Busbice said.
The boy had his fist clenched, so Busbice prepared for a confrontation. But instead, the boy opened his fist to reveal a $1 bill.
“And I go, ‘What?'” Busbice said.
“‘If you’re homeless, here’s a dollar,'” 9-year-old Kelvin Ellis Jr. recalls telling Busbice. “…I always wanted to help a homeless person, and I finally had the opportunity.”
Ellis says he had just gotten the dollar for good grades. It was the only money he had to his name. Busbice was so touched, he invited Ellis in for a snack and then connected with Ellis’ father, who was next door, and promised to stay in touch.
As a reward for his kindness, Busbice gave Ellis a shopping spree — 40 seconds to pick out whatever he wanted in BuckFeather, including a new bike. Ellis says it was great, but definitely not what he wanted to get for his dollar.
“Joy, because I helped someone,” Ellis said. “Give something away, and you feel like you’ve got a lot of things from it.”
“If you give, you’re actually going to get more out of that,” Busbice said. “I couldn’t grasp that as a kid. And if we can spread that around, everything changes.”
