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Local Woman Pays It Forward To Hard-Working Man

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- We're heading into the season of giving when we hear, "It's better to give than to receive." But is it really?

If you were suddenly given the chance to help someone out, would you and could you?

The sign is rather to the point. All anyone had to do was ask KDKA's John Shumway how to get the $500.

On Tuesday, it was a single mother with three children on the receiving end.

John Shumway went to the Penn Hills shopping center to find someone with a generous spirit on Tuesday; so on Wednesday, he went west.

It took a bit longer to get a bite at the Mall at Robinson. It's certainly is not that people didn't see the sign - they saw it, directly and in sideways glances - but kept on walking until Davin Gartley came along and he read the sign to his wife, Michele.

Michele came over and was the first person to finally ask about how to get the money.

Shumway: "I can't give the money to you."

Michele: "Okay."

Shumway: "But I can give it to you to give to somebody else. It's a pay it forward kind of thing.

He went on to explain that the recipient could not be a family member or someone in her household, and it needed to be someone in need. Her thoughts turned to Miguel Lozano.

"He goes out of his way to do anything for anybody and never spends anything on himself, shops at the Goodwills," said Michele. "So, I kind of feel bad. He would deserve something spectacular that he can buy himself."

Lozano as it turns out is quite a soup chef; but soup alone won't put bread on the table, so he scrambles to make ends meet.

"He would go out of his way to help you out as a stranger, which is a very special person," said Michele.

A quick call to make sure Miguel would be there, and they were off in a pouring rain to Pittsburgh's South Side.

In the home he shares with his girlfriend, Beatrice, we met Miguel who had no clue what was coming. He just knew a stranger was asking about his life, beyond the kitchen at Ditka's where he works, to the odd jobs he cobbles together to make ends meet.

"Sometimes, when they need me, I go clean it out," he said. "I do anything - landscaping, siding, roofing, cooking, painting, drywall."

He showed his working man's hands, which were worn hard by his diligence

Miguel: "Sometimes its hard, you work seven days a week."

Shumway: "You're working seven days a week?"

Miguel: "Yeah sometimes, if I want something, I need to work hard.

After the pay it forward moment and a hug from Michele, Miguel's hands were shaking. He says he plans to pay his bills off with the money.

Not only did Michele get to pay the money forward, she did so on her birthday; and you could tell it meant as much to her as any gift she might receive.

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