When three employees of a New York McDonald’s were forced to accept the fact that they weren’t going home during the Christmas storm that blanketed the northern US, they opened up the store to stranded motorists—and ended up hosting 50 people over Christmas weekend.
Amherst, like neighboring Buffalo, received upwards of 40 inches of snow—and it wasn’t long before police began dropping people off at their store on Sweet Home Road and Sheridan Drive last Friday night.
“We accepted the fact that we weren’t going home, so we might as well open up,” said Kristin Kosha, one of the workers there. “We figured someone might need some help.”
Expecting maybe a dozen, more than 50 New Yorkers sheltered in their store which, even before the act of kindness, was known as the “Sweethome McDonald’s” after the street on which it was built.
“We fed them, and had the coffees and hot chocolates going,” she told ABC-7 Buffalo.
“Saturday we had the Bills football game on, and they chatted amongst themselves and mingled—while we kept them fed.”
Dozens of stories of humans helping humans were published over the Christmas weekend, as a patch of terrible weather coincided with the holiday that celebrates goodwill towards man.
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In Buffalo, a resident opened his home up to a tour bus of 10 South Koreans when they got stuck and knocked on his door asking for shovels, while elsewhere, a group of strangers found shelter by breaking a window and entering a school, before leaving a note asking for forgiveness for their impromptu lock-in.
Back in Amherst, people from all over the state ended up at the McDonald’s, including a 7-month-old baby and her mother, utility crews, and several animals.
Kosha, along with her colleagues Jeffrey Spangler and Amanda Kendall, said they just did what anyone would do, claiming ‘you don’t really think about it.’
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ABC-7 described the trio as ‘Snow Angels’ and praised their selfless decisions.
WATCH their local news coverage below…
WARM The World With Human Kindness By Sharing This Fast-Food Feast on Social Media…
Still thankful to a stranger in Ramah Colorado during a blizzard at midnite. After my car slid off the road into a snow drift, she let me sleep on the sofa. In the morning, she made breakfast and called a friend to help pull my car out of the snow. She refused money, but I left some cash tucked between the sofa cushions anyway.
That’s wonderful! Thanks for sharing (and tucking the cash!)…