Georgia State University College student, Jo Ortega, was treated like a criminal for wanting to help a homeless man.
Ortega was in an Atlanta Popeyes drive-through picking up a Door Dash order when she saw a homeless man named jazz.
She knew she “had to do what was right” so she called him over and offered to buy a meal for him, he, however, told her to stay quiet while she was in front of the intercom.
In an interview with Fox News, Ortega said, “After that, everything just went left. The manager got irate. The employees got really upset with me, and I was so confused.”
Ortega said she was in disbelief and as she tried to ask again to purchase food for Jazz, she was again told no.
At this point, things became even crazier. Ortega began to record the interaction on her phone as the manager called the police. Ortega said she was shocked when her description was given to the police.
Ortega said, “I had to mentally prepare myself like, well, maybe I’m going to jail tonight, but I knew I had to stand up for him because no one else was.”
“I’ll wait for the law enforcement to come, and if I get arrested, that’s fine,” she thought to herself.
Thankfully, there were no arrests made and after speaking with the store’s general manager, Ortega and Jazz were allowed to order whatever they wanted that night for free.
In a statement made by Popeyes, they said that all employees at that location were provided with retraining.
Ortega was happy she did the right thing, especially when she watched Jazz share his food with another homeless person that was nearby.
Moved by the situation, Ortega said, “I started a GoFundMe for him. It was just an amazing story. I’m so grateful.”
