Norwalk garbage man's act of kindness takes off on social media, creates domino effect

A Norwalk garbage truck driver's act of kindness is getting some attention after it was caught on camera and posted to social media.

News 12 Staff

Feb 18, 2022, 12:47 AM

Updated 1,025 days ago

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A Norwalk garbage truck driver's act of kindness is getting some attention after it was caught on camera and posted to social media.
Dave Kuban and Carlos Gonzales, owners of Dave and Charlie's Hometown Deli in Norwalk, were getting ready for the morning rush Thursday when they looked out the window and saw a garbage man stop his route and approach a young woman on the side of the road. Gonzales said she was clearly down on her luck and needed help.
"We just saw him hugging her for, I don't know, I want to say five minutes if that. But it was a real hug," Gonzales told News 12.
Gonzalez said the driver also gave the woman money. Kuban took a couple pictures and posted to a Norwalk Facebook group about the good he'd just seen.
"That's just Dave being Dave. He sees something nice, and he just wants to show appreciation," Gonzales said
The post, which soon spread, gave the driver a shout-out and called on the community to help find him so the deli could give him a free lunch.
"We wanted to show him we appreciate him doing something like that. We need that in the world today."
Social media did its thing and led the deli and News 12 to Mike Nance, an employee at WIN Waste Innovations.
"Anytime you see somebody walking around with everything that they own, talking to themselves—I don't know. It just took over me," Nance explained.
Nance said after talking to the woman and helping her out with cash, he felt compelled to offer more comfort.
"So I hugged her. I said a prayer, and that was it," Nance said.
Except it wasn't.
"I don't really know how to feel about that," Nance told News 12 regarding the online attention. "I'm a garbage man. We're about the community. I'm about the community. I love Norwalk. I'm from Norwalk. I was born here. So whatever I can do to help, that's what I'm going to do."
Coincidentally, Feb. 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day, and while that may be the official date to celebrate, it is a year-round effort for Nance.
"I try to be the best person I can be every day," he said.
Nance's good deed inspired the deli to give back to the woman, too.
"After we saw him do that, we made her a little breakfast and brought it over to her. It's a domino effect," Gonzales said.
"If that comes out of it, then that's amazing. There's a lot of good people out here in the world," Nance told News 12.