Two New Jersey firefighters, Tim Young and Paul Hullings, had just finished a 12-hour shift fighting a fire. They worked tirelessly all night until the final flame had been extinguished.

Completely exhausted, they decided to grab an early morning breakfast and a couple strong cups of coffee at the local diner. Their waitress, Liz Woodward, overheard them as they spoke of the long night.

She knew that these heroes were tired and wanted to do something to acknowledge them for the oftentimes thankless work they do. So, instead of a bill, she handed them a note and wished them a good day.

Tim and Paul were surprised by her selfless kindness and, overwhelmed with gratitude, thanked their 'guardian angel' waitress Liz. On Facebook, Tim shared a photo of the event and encouraged his friends to make a trip out to the restaurant. If anyone should have the good fortune of being served by Liz, he encouraged them to leave her a 'big tip'!

But the story doesn't end there...

Heroes Step Up

When the grateful firefighters later learned about Liz's family situation they soon realized that their breakfast hero was in need of some rescuing of her own.

Liz's father, Steve, had been paralyzed about five years earlier and was living as a quadriplegic at home.

On her waitress' salary, she couldn't afford a wheelchair accessible vehicle to transport her father, so she quietly set up a donation page asking for whatever people could donate to their cause.

When Tim found out, he urged his Facebook friends to donate to Liz's campaign: "Turns out, the young lady who gave us a free meal is really the one that could use the help..."

Unbelievably, within a matter of days, Liz had raised over $70,000 - way more than her goal of $17,000. The stunned waitress and her family couldn't believe what these two firemen had done for them - all because she bought them breakfast!

"All I did was pay for their breakfast. I didn't expect anything more than a smile," says the waitress. "It goes to show that you just have to be kind to each other and that even the smallest gesture can change a life."

It just goes to show that kindness truly does pay off - often in ways that we never could have imagined!

We can be each other's angels, all it takes is one small gesture.

[h/t Hefty]