Boy who offered his last dollar to 'homeless man' left stunned to find he's millionaire

A 9-year-old boy made the world a little brighter after he donated his only dollar to a man he thought was homeless - and ended up getting a free shopping free.

Last month, Louisiana-based Kelvin Ellis Jr made the heartfelt offering after finding the dishevelled-looking businessman standing outside a Baton Rouge coffee shop. The man was in pajamas and had his eyes closed.

However, it turned out the individual wasn't homeless at all. It was successful local sporting goods store owner Matt Busbice. He built and sold many outdoor companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Read more: Little boy's heart-warming gesture for lonely school kids leaves people in tears

On that particular day, Matt was outside of his condo complex due to a fire alarm. The 42-year-old, in mismatched clothes, decided to grab a coffee while he waited to go back inside, and decided to close his eyes and catch up on his morning prayers. He said: "And I started to slowly open my eyes, and there’s a kid coming at me, about my height."

He noticed that the young boy had a clenched fist, and revealed the single bill - which he earned for getting good grades. Despite the fact that it was all the money he had, generous Kevin wanted to pass it onto someone who he thought was in need more. Kelvin said: “I always wanted to help a homeless person, and I finally had the opportunity,”

The businessman was so impressed by what happened that he treated Kevin to a snack and got in touch with the boy's father - before inviting him to a generous shopping spree at his sporting goods store. The 9-year-old boy had 40 seconds to pick out whatever he wanted in BuckFeather, including a new bike.

While the shopping spree made Kelvin's day, he said he wasn’t looking for a reward when he gave up his dollar. He said: "[I felt] joy, because I helped someone. Give something away, and you feel like you’ve got a lot of things from it."

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It comes after research suggests that parents would rather their children were honest and kind than anything else. A study of 1,000 mums and dads of children up to the age of seven revealed key attributes they’d most like their youngsters to develop as they grow up – with honesty, good manners and self-confidence coming out on top.

A quarter aspire for their offspring to have a good comprehension of emotions, while half would like their children to learn the art of “being kind to others”. Loyalty, patience, and optimism were also among the traits to feature in the top 20 list parents hope their children will develop.

Claudia Caron, from Thomas & Friends, which commissioned the research, said: “It’s really heart-warming to see how many mums and dads want their child to grow up being kind, honest and independent, over other traits. It just goes to show that these attributes many take for granted aren’t a given, and are something people want to encourage their little ones to have.”