Steve Arnold is a 66 year-old homeless veteran from Blue Springs, Missouri who has never asked his community for anything due to his personal convictions. His notoriety resulted from local residents talking about Steve on the Blue Springs Community Awareness, the town’s Facebook page and the posts about him quickly garnered a lot of attention.

Residents have given Steve a sleeping bag, a cot, a new tent, socks, and food without Steve’s asking. They have also volunteered to do his laundry, give him car rides, and take showers in their homes.

“The Facebook page for Blue Springs has been blowing up about him for months,” said Sella Minker, a manager of the Woods Chapel QuikTrip where Steve can often be found.

Sella first met Steve when he started picking up cigarette butts and trash in front of her store. When asked why the community is so taken with the homeless veteran, she replied, “You know I don’t know; he’s very down to Earth. He’s very quiet, very polite. He doesn’t ask people for money. Just very humble. Very thankful all the time. Gives people hugs. He’s such a sweet guy.”

“That’s just it. He doesn’t ask for anything,” said local resident Laura Booker. “Me and some friends gave him $100. He started crying. He didn’t know where his next meal was coming from.”

Steve had been living with his daughter before financial troubles forced him to move into a makeshift tent near the highway. Steve suffers from mental illness and lives off Social Security, which is not enough to pay his rent. His daughter is working on getting her own place again so that her father can move back in with her.

As for now, Steve’s quality of life has dramatically increased thanks to the kind hearts of the people of Blue Springs!