Mom Struggling To Pay Her Own Bills Donates Lottery Winnings to Cop Shot in Line of Duty

By Amanda Thomason July 22, 2020 at 10:56am

It’s always nice to see people helping each other, going out of their way to take their own resources and offer aid to someone in need. It’s even more impressive when those people, like the widow with two mites in the Bible, have little themselves.

In these cases, it’s not the amount of money that is generally impressive, but the person’s heart, their willingness to serve others and their dedication to giving sacrificially, as Christ did.

Shetara Sims of Kansas City, Missouri, is a single mother who lost one of her daughters in 2012.

A month ago, she also lost her job, too, so when she was in the parking lot of a grocery store and saw a dollar bill lying on the ground during such a turbulent time in her life, it probably looked a bit like a sign.

Providence was on her side, and — perhaps sensing the unusual circumstances — she bought a lottery ticket. She ended up winning $100.

When Sims’ 12-year-old daughter Rakiya, who was with her, saw that they’d won, she felt compelled to donate it to a pressing cause.

“Mom, we should give that to the police officer who got shot,” the girl said, according to a GoFundMe page that was set up for the family.

Sims agreed, and called the Kansas City Police Department, explaining her situation (but not giving her name or number) and asking to donate to the officer, who was in the ICU after being shot on July 2.

After hearing her story, the police department urged her to keep the cash for herself — but she insisted. She explained that when she lost her daughter eight years ago, the detectives who investigated the case “were like her therapists, fathers, and lifelines all in one.”

The KCPD posted the story, and it got a rave response.

“Today, Shetara and her daughter Rakiya came to meet some of coworkers of the officer who was critically wounded,” the department wrote Monday on Facebook. “They also were there during the shooting. Shetara and Rakiya are the ones who had little money, but after finding a dollar in a grocery store parking lot used it to buy a lottery ticket that ended up winning $100 and then decided to donate it to the wounded officer.”

Something wonderful started to happen: Readers were touched by Sims’ sacrificial giving, and wanted to bless her back. Because Sims hadn’t given her name or number, though, it took a while to find her.

But find her the KCPD did, and they set up a GoFundMe for her.

“It took a while to find them, but we’re so glad we did, and we’re so glad they got to meet the wounded officer’s coworkers and friends. (And because so many people reached out wanting to help Shetara and her daughter, we set up this GoFundMe page: gf.me/u/ygr4ya),” the post continued.

The campaign had raised over $57,000 as of Wednesday. The goal was $10,000, but residents have been kind in their own giving in a beautiful example of generosity.

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