Maybe we're too hard on kids these days. They often get a reputation for being lazy, ungrateful and careless, but a young man from Creola, Alabama is breaking all these stereotypes with his selfless act of kindness.

His name is Kenneth Bennett, and after everything his family has been through over the past few years it's a wonder he's still so kind and helpful. Four years ago Kenneth's 27-month-old brother passed away, and more recently his mother Casie divorced his father.

After the split Kenneth, his mother and his 10-year-old sister Keirstan could still be happy they were living in their family home, but 2 weeks ago even that was taken away from them. Casie fell asleep with a wax warmer on, and woke up to find her bedroom in flames.

By the time Kenneth came back from his friend's house at 1 a.m., Creola's volunteer fire department had extinguished the fire, but the house was ruined. "Both of the kids were born in that house," Casie said, "and the baby was born and died in that house,"

Kenneth noticed the firefighter's cooler was empty, so when he went to the gas station to pick up some things for his mother, he also bought some water bottles for the firefighters.

Kenneth spent his last $40 on the purchase, but his community paid back his generosity in a big way.

Learn how Kenneth was rewarded on the next page!

It turns out Kenneth had been saving his money for months to have $40, which he planned to spend on a romantic dinner with his girlfriend for their anniversary - the day after the fire. Even after losing everything, Kenneth didn't hesitate to spend the money on someone else.

Kenneth's mother shared his story with a local Facebook page called Mobile Traffic (she says she couldn't resist bragging about his good deed) and the man who runs it decided to pay back Kenneth's act of kindness.

After raising money from his followers, the man behind Mobile Traffic treated Kenneth and his girlfriend to a luxury dinner, with a limousine to drive them around for the night. He even helped buy a new suit for Kenneth, since all his clothes were lost in the fire.

Kenneth says that he was just doing the right thing, but his mom says Kenneth is "a good kid. He really is."

"In general," she told AL.com, "teenagers get a bad rap." Well, if more teenagers were as kind as Kenneth they wouldn't!

The Bennett family still needs help: their insurance doesn't cover the contents of their home, or the cost of their hotel until they find a new place to stay. You can donate to them here.

Share this story with someone you know!

[H/T: AL.com]