Good deeds are contagious, as they say. And of course they don’t have to be grand gestures. Even the seemingly small positive actions we take in our daily lives can also have incredible consequences.

This story is proof of that.

Tim Young and Paul Hullings from New Jersey are firefighters at heart who live for their jobs.

They recently worked tirelessly for 12 hours to put out the fire. After that, completely exhausted, they went to a coffee shop around 6 o’clock to ask for the strongest cup of coffee the barista could get.

The waitress pulled the bill, opened Facebook 2 hours later and almost passed out

Their waitress that day was Liz Woodward and she overheard the two firefighters discussing their boring fight. Finally, when Tim and Paul went to pay, they got a pleasant surprise. Instead of their account, they received this message.

The waitress pulled the bill, opened Facebook 2 hours later and almost passed out

They emotionally thanked the good waitress for the warm gesture. The Facebook team talks about the event: “Such a selfless and kind act. I definitely invite my friends to come out and support the business and if Liz is your waitress, give a big tip.”

The waitress pulled the bill, opened Facebook 2 hours later and almost passed out

But the story does not end there. Firefighters learned that Lisa’s father, Steve, is a quadriplegic and has been paralyzed for five years. Liz set up a donation page over the winter to fund a wheelchair accessible vehicle so she could take her dad’s place. The team appealed to people on Facebook to donate to Lisa’s fund: “Turns out the young lady who gave us the free meal really could use the help…”

The waitress pulled the bill, opened Facebook 2 hours later and almost passed out

Within days, she had raised more than $70,000 — far more than the $17,000 needed for the wheelchair-accessible van.

Liz and her family couldn’t be more grateful to the two firefighters: “All I did was pay for their breakfast. I didn’t expect anything more than a smile,” says the waitress, “It shows that you just have to be nice to each other and that even the smallest gesture can change a life.

The waitress pulled the bill, opened Facebook 2 hours later and almost passed out

This story is proof that kindness pays off – sometimes a thousandfold, good for everyone involved.

To me, this story is a great example of how contagious kindness can really be—and effective. Even small gestures of kindness can produce results you don’t expect.

Please share this story to spread the goodness!