David Lee Witherspoon Jr. is a man who wears many hats; or shoes, more like it.
"I'm kind of like Mr. Rogers," Witherspoon laughed. "So, I had a lot of shoes that day."
Witherspoon serves as a full-time employee at the Phoenix Veteran Affairs, as well as president of one of St. Vincent de Paul's food pantries at St. Mary's Basilica in downtown Phoenix.
It was last Wednesday when Witherspoon was pulling out of the non-profit's main campus near Interstate 17 and 7th Avenue. Witherspoon could not believe what he saw at first, but finally figured out that there was a man crawling on the ground.
"I stopped my car," Witherspoon said. "I didn't even pull over. I just saw him right away, so I got out and I asked him, 'Sir, what's wrong?'"
The man was using socks to cover his hands and his pants to serve as a barrier between the scorching ground. There was nothing on his feet to protect him.
He told Witherspoon that he was homeless after having an argument at his last residence. He simply ran out the door with just a pair of socks; the socks he was now using on his hands.
Witherspoon did not even think twice as he took action and pulled a pair of his own shoes out of his car, giving them to the man.
"A lot of people give up on people now and that's the biggest problem," Witherspoon explained. "I mean, you don't have to... empty your wallet or anything like that; just a simple, kind act."
Witherspoon's simple act gave that man a chance to stand tall again on his own two feet.
